Troubled
by Sandy O'Neill
Summary: Sandy struggles with his past.
1. Chapter 1

Dinah sat alone in the bar, looking over the nights prospects from her desolate corner. It was weird to be back here. Back in town after having been on the run for so long. But this was where she wanted to be. Where she needed to be. She missed the town. She missed her family. And she needed revenge. On more than one person. She knew that Jeffrey came here to drink. Maybe she could at least get him back. Or… Kill him if she couldn't. Her eyes widened when she saw the young man enter the bar. What was he doing here? What was he doing in Springfield? What she'd heard of Jeffrey coming to Springfield... She'd assumed it was about his work. Because it was always about his work. She'd thought he'd come here to do his job. Take down the drug cartel. Keep an eye on Cassie Winslow… But what if it was all just about the one that got away? Sandy. Foster. What a stupid name. Especially for a guy. Sandy. Ugh. She kept her eyes glued to him. After she killed Cassie. Who better to be next? Maybe Jeffrey was no Hart, but still, it was the principal of the matter… Why did she always have to be second best? Never the love of any man's life, only something to settle for. Something to love either until something better came along or because the something better was already gone. Something to fuck. She squeezed her fingers around her beer bottle, momentarily pretending that it was Cassie's neck. Sandy's neck. Jeffrey's neck.

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Jonathan walked into the bar and took a seat in the shadows. He knew that he had to stay out of sight. Sandy couldn't see him. Not just yet. Not until the time was exactly right. But stalking got boring after awhile. Stalking Sandy, anyways. It was actually a relief just to be in a bar. It was apparently the closest thing Sandy ever did to having any fun in this town. But why was he drinking so much tonight? Was he trying to forget him, or to forget someone else? He must've been trying to forget something. A part of him wanted to kill Sandy. Really, really did. But another part of him… The boy was just so damned pretty. Such a shame… He'd have to have him at least one last time before…

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Dinah wasn't quite sure of it. But it appeared to her that Sandy had a stalker. She smiled to herself. Maybe he would get his… And she wouldn't even have to lift a finger.

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Jonathan thought that he felt eyes on him. He glanced quickly and saw a woman ducking back into the shadows. Was she checking him out? Maybe he could get lucky tonight. He took one last glance at Sandy and figured that nothing particularly interesting was going to happen with him tonight. He could catch up with him again tomorrow. He made his way to her table, placing a bottle of beer in front of her empty one. "Was I imagining things?" He said. "Or were you watching me?"

Dinah pulled her hat up slightly and looked into his eyes. Upon closer inspection, she recognized him instantly. So the boy was alive after all. It didn't really surprise her much. She'd known all along that Sandy was a natural born liar. She brought the beer bottle to her lips, taking a quick sip. "Was I imagining things? Or were you watching him?" She asked, taking a quick glance over in Sandy's direction.

"So what if I was?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's your interest in him?" she asked.

"Oh…" he answered. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Do you want to kill him?" She asked, never bothering to mince any words. "Or do you want to fuck him?"

"Do I look like faggot to you?" he snapped defensively. Great. He'd thought that she'd wanted him. He certainly wanted her…

Dinah smiled, supposing she'd hit a nerve. "Well…" she said, chuckling slightly. "Not everyone's as obvious as he is…"

Oh well. He wasn't going to get what he wanted from this woman. But what was with her sudden interest in Sandy? Did she know him? He forced himself to calm. "What makes you think that I don't want both?" he asked with a slight smirk.

Ok. So he did want Sandy dead. And knowing who this was, maybe he wanted Cassie dead too. And did he know that Richard was dead or not? Or could she trick him into thinking that Jeffrey was Richard? Her mind was spinning with all of the possibilities. He didn't seem like he would be very hard to manipulate. And he certainly didn't seem to be lacking in the anger department. "Actually…" she said, looking him over with a slight smile on her face. "I was hoping that you wanted me tonight…"

Yes! He would be getting laid tonight after all! "Oh…" he said with a smirk of his own. "But I do…"


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, so she didn't usually do things like this… Pick up a guy half her age at a bar… But it was all a part of her greater plan. And besides, he wasn't bad looking either…

"Welcome to my chateau…" Jonathan said, unlocking the door to the cheap motel room as quickly as he could. "Won't you please come in?"

Dinah smiled at him as she walked into the room. It was dingy and dirty, but it didn't really matter.

Jonathan followed her in, locking the door behind himself. "Can I get you another drink?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"I didn't come here for a drink…" Dinah said, pushing him up against the wall and bringing her lips onto his.

Wow. She certainly didn't waste any time. Jonathan's hands went directly to the buttons on her shirt. It didn't take very long for him to get it off of her, and her bra soon followed.

She mirrored his move, ripping his shirt off quickly and moving her hands down his chest until she reached the button on his jeans. Once they were both completely naked she pushed him down onto the bed. He smiled up at her, and before he knew it she was on top of him, their lips meeting again in a passion-filled kiss. Their hands roaming each others bodies, both already beginning to pant.

Dinah looked over to the nightstand and grabbed the condom off of it. She opened the package quickly before putting the condom onto Jonathan's already hard cock.

With a smirk he moved out from under her, and climbed on top of her. She moaned softly as she felt his hand rubbing her, his mouth on her breast. She moved her hands down his back, moaning louder as he finally pushed himself into her.

"Oh… God…" he moaned, feeling just how tight she was before he started to move inside of her.

She arched her body against his movements. God. He felt so good. "Yes…" she moaned. "Yes… yes… yes…"

Jonathan gripped her hips and started to thrust into her harder and faster, his mouth moving back onto her breast as he moved his tongue over her nipple.

Her moans grew louder as his thrusts grew deeper. "Jonathan!!! Oh God yes Jonathan!!!" She screamed out, digging her nails into his back as orgasm racked her body.

"Ohh!" he groaned, feeling her tighten around him. It didn't take very long for him to follow.

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Sandy sighed before bringing the bottle to his lips. He gulped his drink down quickly before ordering another one. And then another. And another. He needed to just stop thinking. But he couldn't stop thinking. No matter how much he drank. The pain was still there. About Jonathan. About Jeffrey. About everything. How much longer could he really keep up this charade anyway? He silently cursed himself. Cursed himself for falling in love with a family that wasn't his own. He had no right to be here. So what was he still doing in this town? He'd made the mistake of letting himself care. And now it was too late not to care. Funny. You'd think he'd've learned his lesson after having his heart broken...

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Dinah looked over at the young man asleep next to her. It was only now that she realized she'd made a crucial mistake. She had been so caught up in the moment. So caught up in the intensity of her climax that she'd called out his name, even though they'd never bothered to share that information with each other. She could only hope that he didn't notice. She moved off of the bed and pulled her shirt back on before looking over at him again to make sure that he was asleep. She smiled slightly to herself. She'd worn the poor boy out. She picked his jeans up off of the floor and fished his wallet out of a back pocket. She went into the bathroom, carrying it with her. She wasn't surprised to find a picture of him with his arm around Sandy inside. So, Sandy hadn't lied about that much. She continued to search through his wallet and found a phone number, scribbled so sloppily that it was barely legible. She tiptoed back into the room to retrieve her cell phone. She glanced over to make sure that he was still asleep before heading back into the bathroom and dialing the number.

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Who the hell would be calling him at this time of night? Sandy looked at the screen to see that the caller ID was blocked. "Hello…" he said, finally answering the phone.

Dinah smirked, not at all surprised by who was on the other end of the line. The boy really was obsessed.

"Hello…" Sandy repeated, hearing nothing but someone's shallow respiration on the other end. "Hello…" he repeated one last time before the line went dead. He hung up his phone, telling himself that it was probably just a wrong number. And that he needed another drink.


	3. Chapter 3

Dinah slowly opened the bathroom door, relieved to find that Jonathan was still asleep on the bed. She watched him for a few moments, before pulling a photograph out of her purse. She had planned to use it as insurance against Jeffrey, but she had a feeling that this would work a lot better. Besides, she still had the negatives… She wrote a short message on the back of the photo and placed it, face down, on the nightstand. Then she got dressed, and headed out the door.

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_"See… I told you that the sex was better out here…" Jonathan said, pulling away from Sandy as he pulled his pants back up. "There's nothing quite like taking you up against these rocks…" _

_ Sandy was still panting slightly. He pulled his pants back up and turned around to face Jonathan, before pulling him into a kiss. _

_ Jonathan returned the kiss momentarily before pulling away. _

_ Sandy hesitated a moment. He wanted to say it, but he wasn't quite sure if he should. "Jonathan I…"_

_ "Yeah…" Jonathan said, raising an eyebrow. _

_ "Nothing…" Sandy said. "Never mind…"_

_ "Something you wanna tell me, baby?" Jonathan asked. _

_ "Jonathan… I… I love you…" Sandy finally managed. _

_ Jonathan smirked. "And I love fucking you…" he said, before fishing into his jacket pocket. "I got a surprise for you…" _

_ Sandy tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. That hadn't been the answer he was hoping for. Not by a long shot. _

_ "Hey… Don't look sad…" Jonathan said. "This stuff'll cheer you right up…" He placed the tablet under his tongue and smiled. "Here baby… Try some…" he said, holding his hand out to Sandy. _

_ "You know I don't do that stuff…" Sandy said, turning away from him. _

_ "Fine…" Jonathan muttered. "Be that way, bitch…"_

_ Sandy quickly spun back around to face him. "What did you just call me?" he snapped._

_ Jonathan chuckled slightly. "You heard me…" he said. "What's wrong? I thought you liked that pet name…"_

_ Sandy glared at Jonathan angrily. "I never said that…"_

_ "Sure you did…" Jonathan said. "You just probably don't remember… Because you were so high on pot that night, Mr. You Know I Don't Do That Stuff…"_

_ Sandy rolled his eyes. "Pot doesn't count…" he said. _

_ "Sure, Sandy…" Jonathan replied. "You just keep telling yourself that…" He moved closer to the edge of the cliff and stood out by it. _

_ "Jonathan… What… What are you doing?" Sandy asked._

_ "What does it look like I'm doing, bitch?" Jonathan replied. _

_ "Jonathan, you're going to fall…" Sandy said. "Please… Get back over here…"_

_ "Would you quit whinin'?" Jonathan snapped. _

_ "You're going to fall off of the cliff Jonathan…" Sandy said. He hated it when he got like this. So high that he didn't even think. _

_ "Get over here…" Jonathan said. _

_ "NO!" Sandy said. _

_ Jonathan smirked. "__Why?__ What, are you scared?" he asked. _

_Sandy__ glared at him. "That's what you think,__ right? That I'm afraid. That I'm weak. Go ahead, say it."_

_Jonathan stepped even closer to the edge, his voice suddenly taking on a mocking tone. "Oh!__ I'm so scared!" He said, chuckling slightly. "It's so far down!"_

_Sandy__ had just about had enough. "You know, I'm sick of this." He snapped, completely fed up with the way that Jonathan was acting. "And I try. I have tried so hard with you, but..."  
Jonathan's foot slipped, and he tried to steady himself. "Whoa, Sandy." He said, completely losing his footing. "Sandy, help…"_

"JONATHAN!!!" Sandy screamed out as his eyes snapped open. Shit. When had he fallen asleep? He couldn't remember. When had he left the bar? He couldn't even remember that. His head ached. How much had he had to drink? Too much. He made his way over to the medicine cabinet and popped some aspirin into his mouth, washing them down with the water from the faucet before splashing some onto his face. He looked at himself in the mirror, just thinking. He'd thought he'd gotten over Jonathan's death a long time ago. When had he become such a wreck again? Oh, right…

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	4. Chapter 4

_ Sandy pushed the door open. "I thought you were coming to my roo…" he stopped speaking mid-sentence, completely shocked and appalled by the sight in front of him. Jeffrey lie there naked next to Dinah. His arm around her. Their bodies still covered in sweat. He wanted to get out of there, but he felt stuck to the ground. His eyes glued to the sight as if it were some horrific train wreck. _

_ Jeffrey stirred awake, but it took a few moments for him to realize that Sandy was in the room. And that Dinah was still there too. _

_ "DAMN YOU!" Sandy shouted. "DAMN YOU, JEFFREY O'NEILL!"_

_ Jeffrey looked up from the bed. "Jonathan… I…" he started, trying to think up some logical explanation, but finding himself unable to finish his words before being cut off. _

_ "I have had it!" Sandy shouted. "I'm leaving! I'm done with this charade! You can just find yourself a new son!"_

_ "Jonathan… Wait…" Jeffrey said, getting up out of bed and pulling on his boxers and pants as quickly as he could. _

_ "I'm not gonna wait!" Sandy said. "I'm leaving! I'm done!"_

_ "Jonathan… I… I can explain…"_

_ "Stop calling me that!" Sandy snapped. _

_ "Sandy, please…" Jeffrey said. "Please… Just… Don't leave…"_

_ Sandy walked out of the room, and headed for his own, slamming the door shut behind him. _

_ Jeffrey followed him inside. _

_ "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sandy shouted. _

_ "I am not going to just let you leave!"_

_ "What are you gonna do, huh? You gonna blackmail me because I fled the scene of a crime, or whatever the hell you wanna call it? Fine! Go right on ahead. Arrest me, Jeffrey. Put me in jail. At least the guys there won't have a problem telling me what exactly I'm worth to them…"_

_ "I am not going to blackmail you…"_

_ "Good… Then… I'm leaving…"_

_ Jeffrey grabbed Sandy by the wrist and pulled him close. "I said you're not going anywhere!" he growled. _

_ "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sandy spat, pulling away from him. _

_ "And just where exactly do you plan on going? Huh? Back to your wonderful little family?"_

_ "At least there I knew I was unwanted!"_

_ "You're not unwanted here…"_

_ "No? Why? You plan on coming back to me after you get bored with her?"_

_ "I want you! Not her!"_

_ "Really… That's not what it looked like…" _

_ "Sandy! I love you!"_

_ "Don't say that to me!"_

_ "Why not, it's true!"_

_ "NO! NO! NO! If it was true I wouldn't've had to walk in and see the two of you…"_

_ "I'm sorry! All right! I made a mistake! What more do you want me to say?"_

_ "I want you to tell me why!"_

_ "I just… I got too far into it…"_

_ "Too far into it? What in the fuck is that even supposed to mean?"_

_ "It was like… I just lost control… Like I wasn't even myself anymore…"_

_ "Of course you weren't yourself… You were Richard, right?"_

_ "Yes, I…"_

_ "THAT IS THE MOST PATHETIC EXCUSE I HAVE EVER HEARD! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH?"_

_ "What do you want me to say, Sandy? Tell me what you want me to say and I will say it!!!"_

_ "I want… I wanna hear the truth! The real truth! That you don't love me. That you never loved me. That I was just a fuck. What we shared was nothing more than a kinky game…" _

_ "You know that none of that is true! Sandy, I love you!"_

_ "You don't love Sandy… You weren't even fucking Sandy… You were fucking Jonathan…"_

_ "NO!"_

_"Yes! And in there right now, was that Dinah you were fucking, or Princess Cassie?? That's who you really want, isn't it? That's who you've wanted all along!"  
"You have no idea what you are talking about!"_

_"You know, I don't even know you, Jeffrey O'Neill…"_

_"You don't even know me?" Jeffrey spat, grabbing Sandy's arm again. "Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me!"_

_"I HATE YOU!" Sandy yelled. _

_"That's not what I asked you!"_

_"How can I love a man that I don't even know? Maybe I was just in love with Richard Winslow…"_

_"That's bullshit and you know it!"_

_"No more bullshit than that crap you were feeding me about not being able to control yourself! If you ever gave a damn about me then you will just let me leave! Please! I can't stand to look at you. I can't stand to hear your voice…" Sandy pulled his arm away from him. "I can't stand you touching me… You don't need me here. You're the prince. You have your princess. You don't need me. I'm completely immaterial. Jonathan is dead. So why won't you just let him die?" _

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Jonathan awoke to find the woman gone. Not that he really cared. Looking over at the nightstand by the bed he saw a piece of a paper. He picked it up and read it under his breath. "Wanna know more? Call me… I think that we could be good together. Really, really good together." He turned it over to see the picture on the other side. It was Sandy. His Sandy. And… Was that his father? No. Couldn't be. They'd told him his father was dead. But… He certainly didn't look dead in the picture…

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_"There's… No way I'm gonna talk you out of this… Is there?" Jeffrey said, the realization of the magnitude of the mistake he'd just made finally hitting him full force. _

_"No." Sandy said. His eyes burned, the finality of the situation cutting even deeper than the betrayal. But his resolve was iron. He was not going to cry. Not in front of Jeffrey. Not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how deep the hurt went. _

_"I'm not going to stop you." Jeffrey said, sullenly. "But… You have to know… I never meant for this to happen… I never set out to hurt you…"_

_"Just go, Jeffrey! Please!" Sandy snapped, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold in the tears much longer. _

_"I'm sorry…" Jeffrey said. "And you'll never understand just how much…" He turned away from Sandy and walked out the door. _

"I understand…" Sandy said softly, the memory just as piercing as it had been the day he'd formed it. "I understand just how much…"


	5. Chapter 5

Jonathan eyed the phone. And then the picture. And then the phone. The more he thought about it, the more the last night's encounter had seemed planned. The more he thought about it… She had known who he was all along… She had called out his name… And the picture she left… The picture… He eyed it again, despite the fact that it sickened him. "Guess perversion runs in the family, doesn't it Dad?" he muttered before finally grabbing the phone and dialing the number on the back of the picture.

"Hello…" Dinah answered.

"I need to see you…" Jonathan said. "Now…"

"Who is this?" Dinah asked, despite the fact that she instantly recognized his voice. He certainly didn't need to know that she did.

Jonathan wasn't fooled. "You know damn well who this is…" he said. "And if you really think we'll be that good together then you better get over here fast because I have a feeling that whatever it is you're planning on doing… You need me a helluva lot more than I need you…"

Dinah was about to respond when he hung up the phone abruptly. Damn him. "So… I guess you're smarter than you look…" she mumbled. "But you're still no match for me…" She stuck the phone back into her pocket and headed straight for his motel room.

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"It's about time you got here…" Jonathan spat.

"I didn't realize that I was on a schedule…" Dinah spat back.

Jonathan slammed the door shut behind her. "Now you are going to tell me exactly what is going on!" he said angrily.

"Jesus Christ, calm down!" Dinah said.

"You obviously have some plan for me…" Jonathan said.

"Maybe I do…" Dinah responded.

"Well then tell me what the fuck it is!" Jonathan spat. "I know you were watching Sandy in that bar just as much as I was…"

"Only I'm not so pathetic that I had followed him there…" she snapped back.

"Well you must've been following him sometime… I mean… How else would you've gotten this?" He said, picking up the picture off the nightstand.

"Oh that…" she smiled. "That was just a present for you… You know… A little eye candy…" she winked.

Jonathan sighed angrily. "How did you know my name if I had never told it to you?" He said.

Damn. He had noticed. "Does it really matter?" she asked.

"I need to know…" he snapped.

"Well first…" she said. "There are some things that I need to know!"

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like why you follow him around… And if you hate him so damn much, then what's with the lovey-dovey picture in your wallet?"

"You looked through my things?" he snapped.

"Yeah…" she said. "So what if I did?"

"It's none of your business…" he snapped.

"I can't help you if you don't help me! You tell me what I need to know and then I will tell you everything that you want to know…"

"I follow him around because I am waiting for just the right moment to strike. I have no intention of letting him get away with this charade he's been pulling…"

"And the picture?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just a picture…" he snapped. "What do you care?"

She chuckled slightly.

"What is so damn funny?" He snapped.

"Nothing…" she replied.

"Then tell me who the fuck you are and what exactly you want with me…"

"I want…" she said. "I want revenge…"

"Revenge? What did Sandy ever do to you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He used me… And then he dumped me… Like I was nothing…"

Now Jonathan was the one who was laughing. "You think that I don't know him well enough to know that what you are telling me is preposterous? If you're not going to tell me the truth then you might as well just leave…"

"Would you just shut up and let me finish!" She snapped. "I was talking about your father, not Sandy!"

"My father…" he said. "Is dead…"

"Oh…" she said. "Is that what they told you? You might wanna take another look at the date on that photograph…"

"Photographs can easily be doctored…"

"Maybe…" she said. "But that one isn't…"

"So, what?" He said. "Sandy stole my father from you and now you want them both dead because of it? Is that what happened here?"

"Not exactly, no…" she said.

"Then what? What? And what exactly do you want me to do about it?"

"I think that if we work together we can get away with it…" she said.

"What? Get away with what?"

"We can kill Sandy… We can kill your father… And we can kill the woman who is responsible for all of your problems…"

"My problems?" he asked. "What do you know about my problems?"

"I know that you had it pretty rough growing up… That your father liked to take out all of his frustrations on you…"

"How do you know any of that?" he snapped.

"Sandy told me…" she said. "I know everything there is to know about you thanks to him… I mean… Unless he was lying…"

"Why do you want my mother dead?"

"Who said anything about your mother?"

"You said you wanted to kill the woman who was responsible for all of my problems… I just assumed you meant…"

"How much do you know about your mother?" she asked.

"They told me that she gave me up to protect me…"

"She did…" she said. "To protect you from your uncle… Who was driven insane by that worthless slut…" The hate that she felt was clearly visible in her eyes as she spoke. "That piece of trash…"

"What slut?" he asked.

"Your aunt…" she answered, her eyes still ablaze. "Cassie…"

"And why do you want her dead?" Jonathan asked.

"She took something… Very precious to me… Something that… I can never get back…" Dinah responded.

"And how exactly do you suppose that we go about doing this?"

"Well before I give you any details I need to know you're with me on this…"

"No… There are some more things that I need to know…"

"About what?"

"About my father."

"What about your father? He abandoned you. He threw you out like a piece of trash…"

"Yeah… And now… This thing with Sandy… I mean… He knows that Sandy isn't me, doesn't he?"

"Well of course he knows. If he didn't, do you think that he would be sleeping with him?"

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. "Well…" he started.

"You know what…" Dinah cut in. "Don't answer that…"

"How could he be with that piece of trash knowing that he… He let me fall… He let me fall off that cliff and he didn't even bother to help me…"

"Well, you know what they say… Lust is blind… Your father never gave a damn about you anyways. If he did don't you think he would've kept you? I mean, if he wanted to keep you and keep you safe… Don't you think he could've done so?"

"Why should I believe one word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Why shouldn't you? I mean… Does it really mater if anything that I'm telling you isn't the truth? Is there any situation that would make you want that boy dead any less? Would any explanation he could give you change the fact that he let you fall off of that cliff? Would any explanation he could give you change the fact that he left you for dead and didn't even bother to call for help? Would any excuse that he could muster up for stealing your life be of any substance at all to you?"

"NO! Nothing he could say would change what I need to do!"

"Then quit questioning my motives and help me!"  
"Why do you need my help anyways?"

"You know what they say… Two heads're better than one…"

"There's gotta be more to it than that… Why do I have a feelin' that you're settin' me up for somethin' bad? How do I know I'm not just gonna help you and… When push comes to shove I'll be the one to take the fall…"

"Well you don't know anything for sure. But let me ask you this. How much harder will it be to try to do this on your own? Yeah, maybe you'll get Sandy. But what about the other people who wronged you? Don't you wanna get them just as bad?"

"And what if I need some time to think this over?"

"Time? How much time are we talking about here? I mean, obviously it is gonna take a little time to put this into motion anyways. You know what. You tell me when you get serious about this…" Dinah's glance lingered on him for a few more seconds, punctuating the words that had just been spoken, before she headed out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Jonathan stared at the door, half expecting the woman to walk back inside at any given moment. After a short while had passed he locked the door and sat down on the bed. He grabbed his wallet and pulled out the picture of him and Sandy. He glared at the picture in his hands. "What you used to be…" he said. "You're not anymore… When did you become such a haughty little bitch, Sandy? Thinking that you could just take anything that you wanted? You don't deserve a family, Sandy… Not even this fucked up one. You don't deserve the money. Dirty, dirty money that not even I would touch. And you most certainly don't deserve to be loved… Not by anyone!!! You wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for me!" he growled.

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_"Well, well, well… If it isn't Sandy Foster…" a voice called out from behind him. A voice that he recognized instantly. _

_ "What do you want, Jim?" Sandy asked, turning to face his classmate. _

_ "I think that the better question would be what do you want?"_

_ "I wanna get outta here…" Sandy said. "There's somewhere I need to be…"_

_ Jim laughed. "Where? At home to baby-sit your psycho mother? Or over to your boyfriend's house to suck his cock?"_

_ "Not that it's any of your business…" Sandy growled. "But I don't have a boyfriend…"_

_ "No, but you want one… Don't you Sandy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._

_ "So what if I do?" Sandy said. "Explain to me again how that affects you…"_

_ "It affects me when I have to get dressed in the locker room with you… It affects me when I can feel your eyes leering at me…" Jim said, throwing his backpack onto the ground in case he felt the need to throw a punch. _

_ Sandy mirrored his move, throwing his backpack onto the ground and balling his fists defensively. "If I was staring…" he said. "I apologize… But don't worry… I'm not gonna make a pass at you… I only stared out of a morbid curiosity… Believe me… For me to want a guy… He'd have to have something that I could actually feel going in…"_

_ Jim was completely incensed, and before Sandy could react, Jim punched him in the face and had him pushed up against the brick wall. He glared at him, without a word. _

_ Sandy glared with equal intensity. He could feel the blood trickling down his lip. _

_ "You know…" Jim said. "I could kill you if I wanted to…"_

_ "Go ahead and try…" Sandy said, before spitting the blood onto Jim's face. _

_ "FUCKING FAGGOT!" Jim yelled, pulling back to wipe the blood from his face. _

_ This was it. Fight or flight. No. Just fight. Sandy threw a punch at Jim's face and managed to hit him in the nose. _

_ Jim stepped back for a moment, but quickly recovered. He punched Sandy in the stomach and took advantage of his momentary breathlessness to push him back up against the wall, this time facing against it. He pushed all of his body weight against Sandy to keep him trapped there. "You made a big mistake there, Sandy boy…" he growled. _

_ Sandy struggled against him, but couldn't pull away. _

_ Jim pulled a knife out of his pocket. "Do you know what I'm gonna do to you now, Sandy?" He asked. "No. Not that. Not that, because that's what you want. Not that, because that would make me as sick and disgusting as you are. No, Sandy. I'm gonna do something much, much worse." He pressed the knife against Sandy's neck. "I'm gonna slit your throat, Sandy… I'm gonna perform the duty that the good Lord tells me to in His Word… I'm gonna send you straight to hell… Because that's exactly where you belong…"_

_ Sandy found himself frozen with fear. And then he heard the sound of a gun cocking. _

_ "You'll be doing no such thing…" Another voice, just as familiar. _

_ Now Jim was the one frozen in fear. _

_ "Drop the knife…" _

_ Jim dropped the knife. _

_ "Good, now back away from him…"_

_ Jim did as he was told, grabbed his backpack, and ran off into the distance as quickly as he could. _

_ "He's gone, Sandy… You're safe now…"_

_ Sandy turned to face the guy who'd saved his life. "Jonathan…" he said, falling into his arms. _

_ "It's OK…" Jonathan said. "I have a feeling the Bible-thumper won't be bothering you ever again…" _

_ "If you wouldn't've been here…" Sandy started. _

_ "But I am here…" Jonathan said, wiping away the few tears that Sandy had shed. "I am here…"_

_ "You saved my life…" Sandy said. _

_ "Yes…" Jonathan said. "But before you go telling me how wonderful I am, keep in mind that I had very selfish motives for doing so…"_

_ Sandy looked up into his eyes. "What… Motives…" he asked, almost hesitantly. _

_ "I see the way you look at me in class… In the locker room… But I always wondered why you've never approached me…"_

_ "I've seen you…" Sandy said. "With girls… I mean… I just figured…"_

_ Jonathan chuckled slightly. "Not everyone is as simple as that, Sandy…" he said. "Just because somebody goes one way, doesn't mean they don't go the other…" _

_ "So…" Sandy said. "You saved my life… To get into my pants…"_

_ "I saved your life, because I want you alive…" he said. "And if that eventually entails getting into your pants… Well… I certainly wouldn't turn you down…"_

_ Sandy smiled softly, but didn't say anything. _

_ "Now come on…" Jonathan said. "Let me take you home…" _

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"I saved your life…" Jonathan growled. "And when it came time for you to return the favor you couldn't do it. You let me fall. And then you left me there to die… You didn't look for me… You didn't even call for help… You abandoned me, just like they did. But you're worse. Because you said you loved me. And you know that I loved you. Even if I could never say it. But now… I hate you… I hate you more than I've ever hated anyone or anything. And I promise you, Sandy. When I strike… Nobody, and I mean nobody… Is going to be there to save you…"


	7. Chapter 7

"You know… You've been coming in here a lot more often than you should be…"

Sandy continued to drink, not bothering to turn and look at the voice behind him. "What're you, spying on me?" he asked.

Jeffrey sat down next to Sandy at the bar. "No…" he said.

Sandy turned to look at Jeffrey. "Well good." He said. "Because the last time I checked my drinking habits were none of your concern."

"You are of my utmost concern, Sandy…" Jeffrey replied.

Sandy rolled his eyes. "Do we have to do this right now?" He asked.

"Tell me, Sandy. What is it that's bothering you so damn much? I thought you'd gotten over the ghosts of the past…"

"Yeah…Well… It was a helluva lot easier when I had a distraction…"

"Is that what I was to you?" Jeffrey asked. "A distraction?"

"Why the hell not?" Sandy said. "That's more than I ever was to you…"

"Sandy, you gotta stop doing this to yourself."

"This is a bar Jeffrey…" Sandy said. "Didn't you come here to drink? Or did you just come here to berate me?"

"I came here to drink…" Jeffrey said. "But not the way that you're drinking…"

"Yeah… Well… You know what, Jeffrey?" Sandy said. "How much I drink is none of your business because you are nothing to me. You're not my boyfriend, you're not my lover, and you're sure as hell not my Daddy, so why don't you just leave me the hell alone and let me get on with my life?"

"And this is what you call getting on with your life?" Jeffrey asked.

"I told you…" Sandy said. "You don't have the right to care…"

"But I do care…" Jeffrey said. "I can't just stop caring…"

"No…" Sandy said. "You lost that right the moment you stuck your dick into Dinah Marler…"

Jeffrey sighed and finally started in on his scotch.

"You have nothing to say to that?" Sandy said. "Do you?"

"You know what, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "A man can only apologize so many times…"

"I would apologize a million times over if I thought that…"

"What?" Jeffrey said. "That you could bring him back? It's not gonna happen, Sandy."

"I know that…" Sandy said. "That's why I'm here…"

"You know Sandy… Eventually you are just going to have to forgive yourself… It was an accident…"

"Oh what do you know?" Sandy spat. "For all you know I could've been lying… I could've pushed him for all that you know…"

"Is that what happened, Sandy?" Jeffrey said. "I wouldn't've blamed you if you had… I know the things that he did to you… I saw those marks on your body…"

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_"You wrecked the car, Sandy? You wrecked the car? How the hell're we supposed to get outta town now?" Jonathan said angrily. _

_ "I'm sorry, I just… I… I didn't do it on purpose…" Sandy said. _

_ Jonathan glared at him. "My God, Sandy! Can't you do anything right?" He growled. "You're just so stupid, Sandy! Why the hell do you have to be so goddamned stupid?" _

_"I'm sure she'll get another car soon and we can just steal that one…" _

_ "We don't have time to wait around for that, Sandy! I told you that we had to leave soon! Did you not hear me when I said that to you?" _

_ "We live on an island, Jonathan. How far could we have really gotten in a car anyways?" _

_ "So now you're saying you did wreck it on purpose? We could've driven to the other side of the island and then sold it for parts and used the money to get away… See, Sandy. I had a plan. I'm not stupid like you! And what're you gonna do now? Huh? Go home? When your mother finds out that you wrecked her only car she is going to pummel you…" _

_ "No… Sandy said. "She's not like that…" _

_ Jonathan shoved Sandy up against the wall. "Yeah, well, maybe she should be. Maybe if she was you wouldn't've turned out so goddamned stupid!" _

_ Sandy didn't like that look in Jonathan's eyes. He knew that Jonathan was adopted, but still, that look in his eyes was so reminiscent of his father. _

_ "Maybe that's all you need is a good beating!" _

_ Sandy shivered, Jonathan's words sending an unwelcome chill down his spine. "No, Jonathan… Please…" _

_ Jonathan punched Sandy in the stomach and used his other hand to keep him up against the wall. _

_ Sandy gasped for breath and tried to pull away from him, but he found himself unable to do so. "Jon… Please…" he pleaded. _

_ "Somebody needs to teach you not to be so goddamned stupid!" Jonathan yelled as he continued to pummel him with his fists. _

_ Sandy finally managed to pull away from Jonathan's grip, but he was in so much pain that he just ended up falling onto the ground. He looked up at Jonathan, his eyes pleading with him to stop, tears rolling down his cheeks. _

_ "Are you crying, Sandy?" Jonathan asked before punching him in the face and jumping on top of him. "You're so weak, Sandy! Such a weak, pathetic little faggot! You're not good for anything more than a punching bag! Stop crying, Sandy! Damn it! Stop crying!" Jonathan continued to hit him as he spoke. "I'm not going to stop until you stop crying!!!" He yelled. _

_ Sandy tried to stop, but every time that he came close, Jonathan would just hit him again, making it hurt even more. _

_ Jonathan continued to hit Sandy until his hands felt weak. He got up off of him and looked down at the sobbing mess in front of him. Sometimes he just didn't understand himself or these urges that he had. He had to momentarily fight back the tears coming to his own eyes at the thought that he could do such a thing to Sandy, and yet it had felt so good to do it. He kneeled down next to Sandy and pulled him into his arms. "It's OK, Sandy…" he murmured into his ear. "I'm not gonna hurt you anymore. It's over. It's OK." He stroked his hair softly as he held him in his arms. _

_ Sandy buried his head in the crook of Jonathan's neck. He knew Jonathan didn't mean to get that way. Didn't mean to hurt him like that. Jonathan was just high, that was all. He wasn't bleeding or anything. He would heal. _

_ Jonathan held Sandy close, feeling his shirt becoming soaked in Sandy's hot tears. _

_Sandy__ continued to cry on Jonathan's shoulder. He knew that it would all be better in the morning. It always was. _

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Sandy laughed sardonically. "Tell me this Jeffrey… How is the way that Jonathan hit me any worse than the way that you did?"

Jeffrey quickly downed the rest of his scotch and slammed his glass onto the bar. "You know what, Sandy?" He growled, completely incensed that Sandy would even go there. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." He glared at Sandy a moment before getting up off of the barstool and storming out.

Sandy went back to drinking his vodka. He hadn't really meant what he'd said, but at least it had gotten rid of Jeffrey.


	8. Chapter 8

Jeffrey slammed his door shut, his thoughts racing. "Damn it Sandy, why do you keep doing this to yourself? Don't you know that I love you? Don't you know that I would do anything to take back what I did that night? Don't you know that I regret that more than any other moment of my life?" He hated himself. If he would've just had a bit more self-control… Sandy had already been hurt so much in his life, and now he seemed to be hell-bent on destroying himself. "How can I make you understand? Sandy, you're always on my mind…"

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_Sandy__ looked down from the cliff, careful not to get too close to the edge. "Jonathan!" He yelled. "Jonathan!" He couldn't see him. He was too far up. He had to get out of there. He knew that there was no possible way that Jonathan could've survived the fall. No way. He was too far up. _

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Jonathan looked at the phone. He'd made up his mind. The woman was right. It would be a helluva lot easier to get this done with a partner. And besides, he had a feeling that this partnership would entail other benefits as well. "Oh yeah, I'll call you…" he muttered. "But not just yet… I want you to sweat it out for a bit longer…" He still wasn't sure exactly how much this woman knew about him, and the one thing that he didn't want was for her to have a complete upper hand…

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_Sandy__ was running so fast that he didn't see the man walk up in front of him. He was running so fast that when he bumped into him they both fell to the ground. _

_ Jeffrey moved off of Sandy as quickly as he could. He stood up and held out his hand to Sandy. _

_ Sandy looked up at him awkwardly and stood, unwilling to take the hand of the stranger in front of him. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, looking down at the ground. "I really should watch where I'm going…" _

_ "Where were you off to in such a hurry?" Jeffrey asked. _

_ "I was just… Umm…" Shit. What in the hell was he supposed to say?_

_ "You were just…" _

_ "Never mind, I… I gotta go…" Sandy said. _

_ Jeffrey watched the kid run off into the distance and wondered why he was acting so nervous. _

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Sandy__ slowly pushed the door open. He stepped into the house and looked around for his mother. He came across her in the living room. "Mom…" he said, seeing that she was watching Blues Clues on the television. _

_ The woman sat in front of the TV as if she hadn't heard him. She had a bright smile on her face as she watched the small blue puppy bounce around on the screen. _

_ "Sa… Sally…" Sandy said, half-hesitantly. He still felt weird calling his mother that. _

_ The woman turned around to look at him. "I'm watchin' Blues Clues…" she said. "What's for dinner? I'm hungry." _

_ Sandy inwardly winced. He needed to get away from her. He needed to get away from this place, but how could he just leave her to herself? He had sworn to himself that he would never leave her the way that his father had. Of course, he had been damn near ready to the other day. Mainly just because when Jonathan said to jump his response was always: How high? Of course now that he didn't have Jonathan, there was no possible way for him to rationalize leaving her. Then again, desperate times… Somebody was going to find Jonathan's body. And his DNA all over it… His epithelials on every part of him. His shoeprints. Fibers loosed from the denim thrown so carelessly onto the ground in a moment of passion. He went into the kitchen and looked into the near empty cupboards. He pulled out a bowl, some milk, and a box of cereal. "Sally…" he said. "What about some Lucky Charms for dinner?" he walked into the living room, holding everything, only then realizing that the TV had been turned off, and that his mother was smoking a cigarette. _

_ She blew a puff of smoke into the air and raised an eyebrow at him. "It's all your fault you know… He left because of you… He knew what you were from the moment that you were born… I don't know how he knew, but he knew…" She took another drag of her cigarette and flicked the ashes in his direction. _

_ Sandy watched as the ashes fell onto the aged green carpet. Luckily, he was too far away from her for them to hit him. "You know, that's not true…" Again, the hesitation in his voice evident at calling her anything other than Mom. "Lisa…" _

_ She scowled at him. "I know it was because of you… That's why he waited until your little sister was born. So that he could take her with him, and your older brother too… All he left me with was you… You tell me, Sandy… What did I ever do to deserve that?" _

_ Sandy moved back into the kitchen to set the stuff down onto the table, before he followed her voice back into the living room. _

_ "Worthless bastard got my good children. I wish he would've taken you instead…" _

_ "You want me gone, Lisa? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" He asked. Sometimes he wondered if Lisa wanted him dead. _

_ The woman crushed her cigarette into the ashtray and lit up another. "I'm not trying to tell you… I am telling you…" _

_ "Yeah… Well… I'll make you a deal…" Sandy said. "You get Alice to say the same thing and I'm gone… Forever… You'll never have to see me again…" _

_ "You think that I give a damn what that bitch wants?" She snapped. "She won't say it! She loves you too much!" _

_ "That's right, she does…" Sandy said. "And no matter how hard you try, you can't make her stop…" _

_ The woman looked Sandy straight in the eye as she put the cigarette out on her own wrist without so much as flinching. "Maybe not…" she said, coolly. "But I can hurt her…" _

_ "You hurt her… You hurt yourself…" _

_ "Maybe…" she said. "But it's certainly worth it to make that bitch suffer… To make you suffer…" _

_ "I'll be in my room…" Sandy said, turning away. _

_ "She knows…" _

_ Sandy turned back around as quickly as he could. "What?" He asked. _

_ "She knows that you wrecked the car…"_

_ Sandy swallowed nervously. "Oh…" he said. "Well, then let me talk to her about it…" _

_ "She thinks it was an accident though… She doesn't know that you did it just to hurt her…" _

_ "It was an accident…" Sandy said. _

_ The woman lit up another cigarette. "You know I would kill you…" she said. "If I wasn't so sure that your boyfriend was well on his way to saving me the trouble…" _

_ Sandy swallowed nervously again. "You're all talk, Lisa…" he finally managed. _

_ "Oh, is that what you think?" She said. "I think that you should leave this place before you have to find out for certain…" _


	9. Chapter 9

_ "Oh, and by the way…" the woman said, finally putting out her last cigarette. "I called the police about you stealing the car… Given their normal response time, they should be here in about half an hour…" _

_ Sandy looked her in eye, trying to decipher whether or not this was just another one of her bluffs. "I don't believe you…" he said. _

_ The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Fine…" she said. "Whatever. I just thought that I would give you a heads up in case you wanted to leave. God knows you wouldn't last your first night in prison…" _

_ "Alice wouldn't let you…" _

_ "DAMN IT LITTLE BOY, DON'T YOU GET IT??? ALICE DOESN'T HAVE A SAY!" Her eyes flashed with rage, and Sandy took a big step back in response. _

_ "You'd better hurry up and pack your bags, Sandy… Because I am dead serious…" _

_ Sandy threw a few things into his backpack. "All right fine…" he said. "This is the way that you want it? I'm not gonna feel guilty over this anymore… You are making it impossible for me to be here, so I'm gone." _

_ "Sandy!" A childish voice called out. "Sandy, where you going?" _

_ Sandy sighed and stopped dead in his tracks. Oh no. He didn't think that he could handle this right now. "Sally…" he said. "I… Umm… You know that I love you, right?" _

_ "You're not leaving are you? You're not leaving like he did?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. "Sandy, you can't leave me…" _

_ The police would be here soon. They would see that she couldn't take care of herself. They would put her into a facility. They would help her to heal. She would get better. Or, at least, that is what he wanted so desperately to believe. That is what he had to tell himself to make it out the door. But he wasn't even at the door yet. "Sally… Umm… Why don't you go watch Pokemon? Some nice men will be here soon… They're going to take you on a vacation…" _

_ "A vacation?" She asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought. "To Disneyworld?" _

_ "Well… Umm… No… But somewhere else nice…" _

_ "You're never coming back, are you Sandy?" _

_ "I… I honestly don't know…" _

_ "I'll miss you Sandy…" _

_ "I'll miss you too Sally… Do you… Do you think that you could try to get Alice out here so that I could say goodbye…" _

_ "She doesn't want to…" _

_ Sandy was fighting back tears. "Sally, please… I really need to say goodbye to Alice… Please…" _

_ "Just listen to the little girl… The bitch doesn't wanna come out… She's so stupid… She thinks that if she doesn't come out you won't leave… She doesn't realize that you're just like your father…" _

_ "I'm nothing like him!" Sandy growled. _

_ "Yeah…" she said. "You just keep telling yourself that…" _

_ Sandy pulled his backpack over his shoulder. "You know what, Lisa? If anyone wrecked my mother's life by coming into it, it was you, not me!" _

_ "Oh, please…" She spat. "I've been here since before you were born. I've protected her more times than you can count…" _

_ "Yeah, well… You better protect her now… Or else you're going to have to answer to me…" _

_ "Come on now, Sandy… You and I both know that the moment you walk out that door, you're never going to set foot in this house again." _

_ Sandy knew that she was right, but he didn't know how exactly to respond to it. _

_ "Fifteen minutes and ticking, Sandy… Then again, maybe they're ahead of schedule… Maybe they're right outside the door, just waiting to bust you…" _

_ Sandy opened the door and looked around. _

_ "Bye bye Sandy…" she said, her voice almost sing-songish. "And don't you ever come back…" _

_ Sandy walked outside and slammed the door shut. He didn't have a whole lot of money... Where in the hell was he supposed to go? He made his way from the house and just walked. He didn't know where exactly he was headed or even what direction he was going in. By the time that he reached the highway his legs were sore. It was getting dark. The atmosphere around him finally in tune with his mood. He watched as the cars whizzed by him and momentarily contemplated jumping in front of one. Why shouldn't he? What was the point to his life now? He'd had one reason to live these past two years. Jonathan. No matter how bad Jonathan treated him, he always went back for more…. Because, quite simply, he was all that he had… But now… He didn't even have that much. He had absolutely nothing. Not even the proper drive to kill himself. So he just continued to walk, somewhere along the stretch of highway coming to realize that he wasn't going to get very far on foot. He held his thumb out and waited until a black Jaguar pulled up in front of him. _

_ The man inside rolled down the window. "Hey kid…" he said. "Need a ride?" _


	10. Chapter 10

_Sandy took a step back, instantly recognizing the man he'd run into earlier. "What're you, following me?" he asked. _

_ Jeffrey gave Sandy an awkward look. "No, I wasn't following you…" he said. "I can just drive away right now if that's what you want…" _

_ "No…" Sandy hesitated a moment, contemplating. "I… I do need a ride actually…" _

_ Jeffrey unlocked the car door. "Hop in…" he said. _

_ Sandy threw his backpack into the back seat before settling in and buckling his seatbelt. _

_ "Where you headed to…" Jeffrey asked. _

_ "As far away as you're willing to take me…" _

_ Jeffrey chuckled slightly. "So… No particular place in mind, then?" _

_ "Nope…" Sandy said. "Not really…" _

_ "Must be somethin' pretty damned bad that's got you runnin' so scared…" Jeffrey said. _

_ "It's nothing…" Sandy replied, shifting nervously in the seat. _

_ "You a wanted man?" Jeffrey asked. _

_ "You know what…" Sandy said. "I think that you can just let me off here…" _

_ "Five miles? That's what you call far away?" _

_ Sandy looked at him awkwardly. _

_ "So…" Jeffrey said. "What exactly did you do?"_

_ "What makes you think I did anything?" Sandy asked. "And what's with all the questions?" _

_ "I was kind enough to give a ride to you, a complete stranger, and you won't even answer me a few simple questions?" _

_ "What're you, a cop?" Sandy asked. _

_ "No…" Jeffrey replied. "I'm something much worse than that…" _

_ Sandy swallowed nervously and looked out the window. "Let me off here…" he said. "Please…" _

_ Jeffrey laughed. "You don't hafta be afraid of me, you know…" he said. _

_ "I'm not afraid of you…" Sandy said. "I'm just… I dunno… Something…" _

_ "Yeah…" Jeffrey said. "You most certainly are something… Something else…" _

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It's a complicated thing. Tailing someone who is already tailing someone else. But Jonathan needed to know some more things about his new friend. He watched her as she watched someone else. Someone who appeared to be vaguely familiar. A woman. A blonde woman. Maybe this was his aunt. The slut that the woman had referred to. He watched as a man left the house. And a few minutes later another arrived. He moved in for a closer look, careful to keep one eye on his potential ally at all times. He could hear her muttering something to herself. Inane ramblings for all that he could decipher.

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"Cassie, Cassie, Cassie… What on earth are you up to now?" Dinah muttered, lurking even closer to the window. "When Eddie's away the slut will play…" She thought that she heard a rustling sound, the sound of leaves crunching behind her. She turned to look and saw Jonathan. She pushed him away from the window before she spoke. "You know…" she said. "If you're this conspicuous when you're stalking Sandy, then I'll bet that he's already on to you…"

"Sorry…" Jonathan said. "Just couldn't help myself. Had to see exactly what my new partner in crime was up to…"

"Partner in crime?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Jonathan said. "I mean, if that's still what you want…"

"Of course…" Dinah said. "You know that's exactly what I want…"

"So…" Jonathan said. "Now that you know I'm with you on this why don't you spill the specifics to me?"

"Here?" Dinah asked. "Now?"

"Uh… Yeah…" Jonathan said. "Sure… Why the hell not?"

"I'm kind of busy right now…"

Jonathan peered through the window. "I'm sorry…" he said. "I didn't realize that you got off on watching this…"

Dinah slapped Jonathan across the face.

"Ooh…" he said. "Feels kinda nice when you do it…"

Dinah rolled her eyes. "All right…" she said. "Why don't we just go back to your motel room and figure out the details there…"

"Because something tells me if we go back there…" Jonathan said. "We won't get any figuring out done…"

Dinah smiled. "Well…" she started. "You know what it is they say about all work and no play…"


	11. Chapter 11

He pushed her down onto the bed. So horny. So hungry for her. So filled with desire. He ripped her shirt off of her and brought his mouth to her breast. Licking. Sucking. Kissing down her abdomen until he reached the zipper on her pants. He pulled them off of her and, along with her panties, threw them onto the ground. He moved his mouth to her. Licking her. Sucking her. Voraciously. Hungrily.

She screamed out in desire, her whole body trembling at the feeling of his tongue moving over her clit. She moaned. Arching her body against him as he continued to drive her wild.

His hand went to the zipper on his pants. He unzipped them, moving his hand onto his cock. Stroking himself as he listened to her moans of pleasure. He continued to lick her and suck her until he could feel her body tensing. He pushed his fingers into her and could feel her tightening around them.

She shuddered. Her whole body taken over by the sensation of her climax. She lied back, panting heavily as she watched him.

He moved to the drawer. Pulled out a condom. Placed it onto his hard, throbbing cock. He climbed on top of her and thrust into her hard and fast, groaning at the feel of her.

She wrapped her arms around him. Ripping off the shirt that he had never bothered to remove. Panting into his ear as her hands roamed his body, moving down his back, like she wanted to touch every single inch of his skin.

He continued to drive himself in and out of her, moving harder and faster with every thrust. He moaned loudly as he could feel her tightening around him again. He gripped her body, feeling her arching into his touch.

"JOHN!!!" She screamed out as she came, digging her nails into his skin.

He groaned loudly as he followed her off of the edge into bliss.

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_"You gotta get outta my car sometime you know…" Jeffrey said, looking over at Sandy. _

_ "You mean… Now?" Sandy asked. _

_ "I mean…" Jeffrey said. "That in another hour I'm gonna be at the airport…" _

_ OK. So at least he'd made it to the other side of the island. "I guess… I… I'll get off there…" Sandy said. _

_ Jeffrey looked at him awkwardly. "And where exactly are you headed…" _

_ "I… I don't know…" Sandy said. "I... I'll figure it out when I get there I guess…" he rested his head back against the seat and looked out the window. _

_ "Damn it…" Jeffrey mumbled as his phone began to ring. "Hello…" he said, picking it up, careful to keep one hand on the steering wheel. "No… I'm sorry… I couldn't find him… I dunno where he is… Yeah… I should be there in about an hour… What? I don't understa… Oh… OK… A replacement…" Jeffrey looked Sandy up and down. _

_ Sandy eyed him back awkwardly. _

_ "Mmm hmm…" Jeffrey mumbled. "Yeah… I think that I can manage… No… I've already got somebody in mind… Yeah… All right… See you there… Bye…" _

_ Sandy tried not to appear too curious. He looked back out the window and tried to get his mind onto other things. _

_ "Hey kid…" Jeffrey said. "How would you like a job?"_


	12. Chapter 12

"You know it's funny how we're allies in revenge… And lovers again… But I still don't know your name…" Jonathan said.

Dinah raised an eyebrow at him. "Lovers?" she asked.

"Or fuck buddies at least…" Jonathan said. "Whatever you wanna call it…"

Dinah chuckled slightly. "Fuck buddies is it then…" she said.

"And… Your name…" Jonathan said.

"Does it really matter?" Dinah asked.

Jonathan smirked. "You know it would've been less conspicuous for you to just make something up…"

"Call me D…" Dinah said.

"All right D…" Jonathan said.

"Now…" Dinah said. "I suppose that we should get back to business…"

"Business?"

"Revenge…" Dinah said. "Is a serious business…"

Jonathan smirked. "I suppose that it is…" he said.

"So… I'm just gonna come right out and ask you…" Dinah said. "Is it true that you know how to make bombs?"

Jonathan smiled. "I knew that you needed me for a reason…" he said. "Yeah… I mean… With the right supplies I could make a few small ones…"

Dinah smiled. "And what better way to rid the world of its ills?" She asked.

"Sounds like I'm the one who has to do all of the dirty work…" Jonathan said.

"No…" Dinah said. "Of course not… I'm the one who's going to plant it at the farm…"

"And when do you plan on doing this?" Jonathan asked.

"As soon as possible sounds pretty damned good to me…" Dinah said.

"Well…" Jonathan said. "It's going to take me a few days to assemble everything… Now, that of course is assuming that I can get a hold of the right supplies…"

"Do you think it'll be hard?"

"I don't think that I should run into any trouble…" he said. "It's some pretty common stuff that can be used… I mean… With nails as shrapnel and the like…"

Dinah smiled. "They will pay. Every last one of them…"

"I think that we should set them to go off at the same time…" he said. "That way the cops won't have time to stop anything…"

"Midnight sounds awfully poetic…" Dinah said.

"No…" he cut in. "Sandy has turned into quite the little alky as of late… He won't even be home by midnight…"

"You could just plant it at the bar…"

"Too much collateral damage… The more people that die the more the cops are all over it…" Jonathan said. "And besides that… I only know how to make small bombs. They need to be placed in the right place to ensure that they're lethal… If he's in the bar… Who knows where he'll be sitting… I just… I don't wanna risk him coming out of this alive… I know his schedule… Like the back of my hand… I think that 4 would be better…"

"4 am…" Dinah said. "I suppose that should be all right…"

"Looks like we're finally getting somewhere…" Jonathan said. "If you can't tell by my accommodations I'm not exactly made of money, so maybe you can pay for these supplies…"

"Whatever you need…" she said. "I will pay for… Don't worry about the money… I will give you whatever it is that you need…"

Jonathan smirked. "I have been waiting so long for this…" he said. "It feels so good to know that Sandy won't be around for much longer… Not to mention my father… And darling Aunt Cassie…"

Dinah smiled. "Soon enough they'll all be dead…" she said. "Soon enough… We'll have what we want…"

Jonathan pulled her close and brought his lips onto hers, the thought of Sandy dead making his body react in a way that it very well shouldn't have. "What I want right now…" he said, pulling back momentarily to look into her eyes. "Is you…"


	13. Chapter 13

"Well, hello Mommy Dearest…" Jonathan muttered to himself. "How could I forget to add you to my plan? You are the one who abandoned me after all…" He moved closer to the window to watch Reva. She was kissing a man that looked awfully familiar. He watched and listened, coming to realize that this man was his mother's husband, not to mention that he was the same man he'd seen the other day at the farm. "Well, well, well D… It appears as if something has slipped your mind…" He moved away from the house and pulled out his cell phone, dialing the woman's number.

"Hello…" Dinah answered.

"I need to see you…" Jonathan said. "I seem to have hit a little snag in this plan…"

"What's wrong?" Dinah asked. "Didn't I give you enough money for the supplies?"

"It's not about the money…" Jonathan said. "But I need your help with something…"

Dinah sighed. "All right…" she said. "I'll be back at your motel room in an hour…"

"See you then…" Jonathan said, hanging up the phone. "Nobody makes a fool outta Jonathan Randall, D… Not even you…"

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"Reva… I… I'm not your son…" Sandy choked on the words. It was hard enough to get them out of his mouth now, how the fuck was he supposed to say it in front of Reva? All he'd ever wanted was a family. And now he had it. But every single day he grew to love them more. And so the lying became even harder. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. She deserved to know the truth. But how in the world was he going to tell it to her?

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"Took you long enough…" Jonathan muttered, shutting the door behind her.

Dinah looked around the room at the mess scattered across the floor. "I do have a life you know…" she said.

"Not any more you don't!" Jonathan growled, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Is that a threat?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"This plan is your life now!" He spat. "There is nothing else! You live this! You eat this! You drink this! You breathe this!"

"What am I doing here?" she asked. "You seem to be doing just fine with this part yourself…"

"I need you to explain something to me!"

"And what would that be?"

"Why you didn't tell me!"

"Didn't tell you what?"

"That man… At my aunt's farm… Is my mother's husband!"

"Yeah… So… What?"

"You didn't think that I deserved to know that fact?"

"I just assumed that you already did!"

"Oh come on! That's bullshit and you know it! You're hidin' stuff from me! You've been hidin' stuff from me from the beginning! Now, I want you to tell me the truth about everything!"

"I've been telling you the truth! You're overreacting! All right… I thought you knew!"

"Yeah and how would I know that?"

"I thought that you were spying on them, just like you were spying on Sandy! You know, I didn't think that you really cared if your mother's husband was cheating on her!"

"This changes things! This changes everything!"

"Why? What does it change? Why can't we just go through with the plan the way that we set out to do it?"

"Because. I want a surprise for Mommy Dearest. I think that she deserves somethin' special, don't you?"

"And just what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm makin' two bombs here. One for my father. And one for Sandy."

"And what about your aunt Cassie? She deserves to die!"

"Yeah… Well… She's not gettin' a bomb! Mmm mmm… We're shootin' her… We're shootin' her… And we're shootin' my mothers husband…"

"Why? Why can't we just blow them up like we intended to in the first place? What difference does it make how they die?"

"I want her to find them! I want her to walk in and find them! Dead! Together! You get what I'm saying? I think that she deserves somethin' special, don't you?"

"All right. Ok... We can do that. But if we're going to do that than we have to make sure that they're together on the night that we do this."

"Yeah? And how hard is that?"

"They usually meet during the day when her fiancé's not home… So if you want to do this at night…"

"Come on… There has to be some opportunity here! You're just not thinkin'…"

"Ok. In a few days her fiancé's supposed to take her daughter to some play in New York or something."

"Oh… Is that good ol' Uncle Eddie?"

"Yes…"

"Yeah? Well… It's not gonna work because he has to get what he has coming to him too!"

"Look. Just hear me out here… You don't think your aunt's death will shake him?"

"Shake him? I don't want him shaken! I want him dead! I want him to…"Jonathan growled. "He tried to kill me, that bastard!"

"Yes, I understand that… But look at it this way… The whole town now looks at him like he's something special… Reformed… But how much do you think it would take to push him back into old habits? How much do you think it would take to push him over the edge? I think that your aunt's death just might be enough to do that. I think that it might just cause him to wreak havoc on this little town…"

"And that's it? He gets off that easy?"

"Look. You're the one that doesn't wanna plant the bomb! You're the one that wants to do this when he's outta town!"

"So if it does push him over the edge… Maybe he'll end his spree with killing himself…"

"Or if not he just might slip up. Get caught. And get the death penalty. Or get thrown in jail…"

"Yeah… I'm sure he'd like it in there…"

"So you see, this is gonna work out just fine… And you know what? You're right. Your mother does deserve that something special."

"Yeah. Yeah, I wonder how she's gonna take it when she finds out her husband was screwin' her sister. It's just too bad I'm not gonna be around to see the look on her face when she finds 'em like that…"

"Oh? And why not?"

"I'm leavin' town on that night. I'm not stickin' around to get caught. I don't know about you…"

Dinah sighed.

"What? You wanna stay in this two-bit town? That's fine with me…"

"I didn't say that…" Dinah said. "But where are you going?"

"What do you care?"

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Doesn't matter to me… I came to this town for one thing… We're doin' it… And it'll be done…"


	14. Chapter 14

What was she going to say to that? Was she going to tell him that she was beginning to feel attached to him? No. Of course not. Don't wear your heart on your sleeve again, Dinah…

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_"What do you mean that it's over?" _

_ "The FBI is calling off the investigation… And taking it in another direction… They don't need us to do this anymore…" _

_ "It doesn't make any sense!" _

_ "Yeah… Well… It doesn't have to make sense…" _

_ "And just what the hell am I supposed to do now?" _

_ "Stay out of the US and you should be just fine, Dinah…" _

_ "Dinah? Oh, is that what you're calling me now? That's not what you were calling me last night in bed…"_

_ "Yeah… Well… It's who you are now… You can't be Cassie Winslow anymore…"_

_ "And that means that you're back to bein' just plain ole Jeffrey O'Neill…" _

_ "Yes… Yes it does…" _

_ "But aren't you going to miss being Prince Richard? Or did that lose its appeal once you couldn't play Daddy to little Jonathan anymore…" _

_ "This isn't about that!" _

_ "No? Well, the timings just right, isn't it?"_

_ "He's been gone for months…" _

_ "Maybe, but it hasn't been the same for you since he left…" _

_ "I made my choice… And he made his…" _

_ "You chose me…" _

_ "No…"_

_ "Yes, Richard, you did… You may have been half-drunk when you did, but you did…" _

_ "No…" _

_ "Unless it was Cassie that you chose..."_

_ "Shut up, Dinah…"_

_ "What's wrong Richard, did I hit a nerve?"_

_ "No… You just sound stupid prattling on like that…"_

_ Dinah moved in closer to Jeffrey, running a hand slowly down his chest. "Tell me Richard… Tell me you don't want your beautiful princess…"_

_ Jeffrey grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her away. "It's done." He said. "It's over Dinah…" _

_ "So gimme one more for the road…" Dinah said. _

_ Jeffrey moved his lips onto hers, kissing her passionately before pulling away. "There…" he said, panting slightly. _

_ "There?" Dinah asked. "I didn't ask you for a kiss, Richard…" _

_ "It's over, Dinah! Or did you not hear me the last few times that I told you?"_

_ "Where are you going, Richard? What's your new assignment?" _

_ "That's none of your damn business, now is it, Dinah?"_

_ "Are you going to watch over the real princess Cassie? Or are you going to go track him down?" _

_ "Like I said, Dinah… It's none of your damn business…" Jeffrey said, turning to leave._

_ "I want to go with you…"_

_ Jeffrey turned back around to face her, looking at her awkwardly. "What?" he asked surprised. _

_ "You heard me Richard. I said that I want to go with you…" _

_ "Yeah, well… Dinah, you can't…"_

_ "I know that you feel something for me… Something more than just raw animal lust…"_

_ "Even if I had come to care about you…" Jeffrey said. "So what?"_

_ "You love me, Richard…"_

_ Jeffrey laughed. "You know what, Dinah?" he said. "Maybe you really are crazy after all…" _

_ "No more crazy than you are… So why not be crazy together?"_

_ "I'm not crazy…"_

_ "No? Admit it Richard… You're addicted to being Richard…"_

_ "I like it… I wouldn't call it an addiction…"_

_ "You call me Cassie in bed… Not so much because you want Cassie… But because you want to be Richard…" _

_ "You don't know what you're talking about…" _

_ "You get off on it… Just like you got off on calling him Jonathan… Do you know how sick that is Jeffrey? Taking advantage of an innocent little boy like that…" _

_ "HE IS AN ADULT!"_

_ "Now, maybe… But he wasn't when you first dragged him into this, was he?"_

_ "Close enough…" Jeffrey said. "And you know what, I don't need to justify myself to you… I saved you, Dinah… From that rat hole that you were in… I saved you, and not the other way around… So I don't owe you anything…"_

_ "You've been using me for months. I think that you owe me a little something… At the very least you owe me the truth… Tell me, Richard… Why do you get off on being the Prince?"_

_ "Why do you get off on being Cassie?" _

_ "Why wouldn't I?" Dinah said. "Sure as hell beats being Dinah Marler…" _

_ "Well, then…" Jeffrey said. "There you go…"_

_ "We can still do it, Richard… If not in public in front of the crowds, we can still do it when we're alone together…"_

_ "We're not going to be alone together, Dinah…" _

_ "Just because this is over doesn't mean that we're over…"_

_ "This was us…" Jeffrey said. "Without this, there is no us…"_

_ "You really don't feel a thing for me at all, do you?"_

_ "Like I said…" Jeffrey replied. "Even if I had grown to care about you… So what?"_

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"Did you wanna come with me or somethin'?" Jonathan asked, not exactly sure why. It was almost as if he felt compelled to in that moment. He didn't love her or anything like that, but it was nice to be with somebody who he felt understood him, at least, as much as anybody could understand somebody like him.

Dinah raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked, almost hesitantly. "Are… Are you serious?"

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. "Uh, yeah… Why the hell not… I mean, beats travelin' alone, no?"

"Yeah…" Dinah said. "I mean… I guess so…"

"So, any place particular you had in mind?"

Dinah shrugged her shoulders. "We still have a couple of days to think about it…"

Jonathan smirked. "Two more nights…" he said. "And then we'll be… Free…"

"Free…" Dinah said, echoing his sentiments.

"Free from the demons of the past…"


	15. Chapter 15

Reva looked over at her son. She had become increasingly worried about him as of late. She knew that something was bothering him, but she had no idea what exactly it was. "Sandy, honey…" she asked, looking into his eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Of course I'm ok…" Sandy said. "Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"It's just you've been acting kind of strange lately…"

"I'm fine, Reva… Really…"

"Really, Sandy?" She asked. "Is that why you smell like alcohol?"

"So I'm not allowed to have a few drinks?" Sandy snapped.

"Sandy, you can tell me what's wrong…"

"Well maybe it's none of your damn business, Reva!" Sandy snapped defensively.

"I'm your mother, Sandy!" Reva said. "Everything in your life is my damn business!"

Sandy sighed, seeing all of the caring and concern in her eyes. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up this façade. "It's just… It's nothing all right… You wouldn't understand…"

"Sandy, do you need help with something?" Reva asked. "You can tell me, Sandy… There's nothing you can say that will make me stop loving you…"

Sandy looked her straight in the eye. "Wanna bet?" he asked, deadpan.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Reva said.

"I'm not who you think I am, Reva…" Sandy started, finally convinced that he could do this. She did deserve to know after all. And he knew that she wasn't going to let up. "I'm not… I'm not what you think I am…"

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"No kidding, Sandman…" Jonathan mumbled as he peered through the window… Was Sandy really going to drop the act and just tell her? No way. He was too spineless. He would back out of it for sure… But on the off chance that he didn't… This was sure as hell going to be fun to watch…

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"Just what exactly are you trying to tell me, Sandy?" Reva asked, almost certain that she already knew.

Sandy swallowed nervously. "I… I'm not… I'm not the person that… That you think I am…"

"Sandy, are… Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm… There's something you need to know about… About… Who I am… I'm… Reva, I'm…" Sandy choked on the words, unable to get them out effectively. He couldn't do this. No way could those words leave his lips. Not in font of her.

"Sandy, is this about what I think it's about?" Reva said, pulling him into her arms. "Come here. It's ok, Sandy. It's ok, I know…"

Sandy's eyes widened in shock. "You… What?" He asked, barely able to get the words out. "What do you mean you…"

"Sandy, it's ok…" Reva said, reassuringly. "There's nothing wrong with that… I don't have a problem with who you are, Sandy… I love you…"

Tears came to Sandy's eyes at the thought that all was forgiven, his jaw dropped open slightly in disbelief. "You're not… You're not angry?" he asked. "You're not… You're not disappointed? I mean… How could you still love me?"

"Sandy, look at me… Sandy, how could you think I would stop loving you over something like this? I mean, it's who you are… You're still my son, Sandy… And that's not gonna change no matter… No matter who you are… No matter who you love…"

Of course. She thought that he was confessing… That… He should've known that it wasn't going to be this easy… She was still completely oblivious to what he'd really been trying to confess… But even the fact that she'd still love him after knowing this much… He looked into her eyes and found nothing but loving acceptance there… And again, he'd lost his nerve… He couldn't do this… Couldn't tell her what he'd really been trying to confess… Couldn't break her heart like that…

"Sandy you don't have to keep it a secret… It's nothing to be ashamed of… You're my son and I love you… That's still my blood running through your veins…"

Sandy leaned his head against her shoulder for a moment, forcing himself to hold back his tears.

"It's ok, Sandy…"

He pulled away from her. "Reva, I… I gotta go…" he said, moving up off of the couch.

"Sandy, I mean it you know… I love you…"

"I love you too…." Sandy said. "There's just… There's somewhere that I need to be… I… I'll stop by again tomorrow… All right?"

Reva knew that this whole thing must've been hard for him, and that he could probably use some time alone. "You know you're welcome here anytime…" she said.

"I… I'll see you tomorrow, Reva…" Sandy said, before walking out the door.

Jonathan quickly moved out of sight. He felt like putting his fist through the wall. How could she love him so much? He wasn't even her son. How could she not know? What kind of mother was that? He knew that the plan was to be executed tonight, and the bomb was already safely tucked away under Sandy's bed… But… He just wasn't sure that he could wait that long…


	16. Chapter 16

"Predictable as hell, Sandy…" Jonathan mumbled as he followed Sandy into the bar. He sat back in the shadows and watched as Sandy downed vodka after vodka after vodka. He watched as Sandy handed a wad of cash to a shady looking fellow and instantly knew what exactly it was for… He followed Sandy to the back alley behind the bar and watched him, the fire from his lighter shining like a beacon in the darkness. He watched as Sandy brought the joint to his lips. Watched as he'd finally had enough. Watched as Sandy threw what little of it remained in his hand onto the ground and stomped on it to put it out. Watched as Sandy started to walk away. He moved out from his corner, finally certain that he couldn't wait the six or so odd hours remaining until the bomb was to go off. "So…" he said gruffly, inching ever closer to his prey. "I hear you're lookin' for a score…"

Sandy stopped dead in his tracks. The voice instantly sending a chill down his spine. It made him shiver. He would recognize that voice anywhere. It was unmistakable. He turned on his heel, looking over the man standing in front of him. He swallowed nervously, his eyes widening in shock.

"What's wrong, Sandy? You look like you've seen a ghost. You look so pale, Sandy. Guess your life ain't been treatin' you so well since you stole mine…"

"Joh… Jonathan…" Sandy said, barely able to get the word out. He reached out his hand to touch the side of Jonathan's face, half expecting the man to disappear on contact.

"Who else would it be, baby?" he said softly, grabbing Sandy's hand and rubbing it against his stubbly cheek. "There's my pretty boy." He whispered. "Such a pretty little boy."

Sandy shivered again at the words. How long had it been since he'd heard them? There was so much that he needed to say, but he just didn't know where to start. How many times had he begged so desperately for a second chance? And now here it was… Standing right in front of him… He tried to force out something as Jonathan let go of his hand, though not before kissing it, and stepped even closer to him.

Jonathan moved his hand under Sandy's chin, forcing him to look up into his eyes before kissing him lightly on the cheek. "So soft." He whispered, gently stroking the side of his face. "So pretty." He added, bringing his lips down onto Sandy's and kissing him softly.

Sandy sank into the kiss as he could feel it becoming more forceful. His head was spinning. He was so confused. Was it the pot? Was it the alcohol? Was it a ghost? Or… Could this be real? Could he really be here? In flesh and blood? And kissing him? Knowing full well what he'd done? Could all really have been forgiven like that? So easily?

"So perfect." Jonathan whispered as he pulled back from the kiss, wrapping his hands around Sandy's neck. "Too perfect." And suddenly his voice had taken on a very different tone.

Sandy tried to pull back. Tried to pull away from him. Grabbed his arms and tried to force him to let go. But it was no use. And when he looked up into Jonathan's eyes he knew… This was it for him. He was going to die. Right here. Right now. He was going to die.

"What's wrong Sandy? I thought that you liked it when you couldn't breathe. Remember the fun that we used to have? Huh? The same kind of fun that you have with my father."

Sandy struggled against him even harder, trying to scream. Trying to kick. Trying to pry the other man's hands off of his neck as he gasped for breath.

"Why're you fightin' me on this, Sandy? You like this, remember? You love it. Why don't I just take it all the way this time, Sandy? Put you outta your freakin' misery. It's why you always liked it so much. Knowing that one time I just might take it too far. Knowing that there was always the possibility of you passing out and never waking up. It's the one thing you've always wanted. To die in my arms. To die at my hand. The only desire of yours I'd left unfulfilled. But no more Sandy. Here you go. I'm doing this for you. My Sandy. My lover. My bitch. My possession. That's right Sandy. Close your eyes. Stop fightin' me. Just let it go."

Everything seemed to go black as the oxygen he so desperately needed continued to elude him. Sandy closed his eyes, falling unconscious into Jonathan's grip.

Jonathan moved his hands off of Sandy's neck, only long enough to throw him onto the ground. He crouched down next to him and wrapped his hands back around his throat. "I had a plan, Sandy. A perfect plan. But you know what? I couldn't wait that long. I saw the way she looks at you. So much love in her eyes. I couldn't let you get even closer to my mother. MY MOTHER! She's not yours, Sandy! This family's not yours! You stole everything that rightfully belongs to me!" He knew that in a few more seconds Sandy would finally be dead, and still there was a desire in him even greater than that to see Sandy in his final repose. A desire that only grew more intense as Sandy inched closer and closer to death. He moved one hand off of Sandy's neck and fumbled with the zipper on his pants. "That's one way I've never fucked you before…" he whispered into Sandy's ear, nipping at it slightly. "With you as a corpse…" He had only started to pull Sandy's pants down when he heard footsteps approaching him, and approaching fast. He looked up from where he was crouched on the ground, his eyes darting back and forth wearily, unable to see much in the darkness. And that was when the realization hit him… If he did go through with this… He was going to get caught. But then again, maybe this was worth it. No, because then there was no guarantee that he'd be able to finish the job. Sandy was high. Nobody would believe his story. And to even tell that he'd have to blow his cover. No. He wouldn't say anything. If he left now, he would get away. And the original plan would still go on unhindered. What's the most that could happen in a few hours anyways? He let Sandy go before running off into the distance.

Jeffrey saw Sandy lying on the ground. He ran over to him and crouched down beside him. He checked for a pulse and was relieved to find him breathing. "Sandy…" he said. "Sandy…" He moved him into the light and saw that his pants were unzipped, pulled down half-way. "Oh God, Sandy…" he said, shaking his head as he noticed the fresh strangulation marks on Sandy's neck. He'd told Sandy this before. That no matter what your desires this isn't the type of thing that you do with a complete stranger because it was too dangerous. That if you weren't doing it with someone who cared at least whether you lived or died that you could very well end up dead. He shook him slightly "Sandy…" he said as he noticed his eyes finally starting to flutter open. "Sandy…"


	17. Chapter 17

Sandy gasped for breath as he regained consciousness.

"Oh God, Sandy… You're ok…" Jeffrey said, pulling him into his arms.

Sandy choked and coughed, continuing to gasp for breath.

Jeffrey rubbed his back slightly, still holding him in his arms. "Just breathe, Sandy…" he murmured into Sandy's ear. "Just breathe…"

Sandy continued to gasp until his breathing finally returned to normal. He pulled away from Jeffrey's embrace, looking at him awkwardly.

"Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "What… What exactly happened here? Did you want… I mean… Were you… "

Sandy looked down at his pants and quickly pulled them back up before zipping them. How was he supposed to answer that question? Tell him that he had been making out with a poltergeist when the spirit suddenly turned homicidal? "I just… I… I don't remember…" he muttered.

"Sandy…" Jeffrey started, looking into his eyes.

"I don't remember!" Sandy snapped, looking away from him.

Jeffrey wasn't going to push this. Sandy was all right and that was really all that mattered. "Do you want me to take you to Cedars to get checked out?" he asked.

"I don't need it…" Sandy said. "I'm fine…"

Jeffrey sighed. "All right, well… Would you at least let me take you home?"

"I wanna go back inside…" Sandy muttered. "I need… Some more to drink…"

"I think that you've had quite enough for one night…" Jeffrey snapped.

Sandy raised an eyebrow. He felt so desperate right now. He needed to get lost in something, and if not the bottle then maybe… "Fine…" he muttered. "Just lead me to your car…"

Jeffrey took Sandy by the hand and led him to his car, unlocking the door. "Get in…" he said.

"You get in…" Sandy muttered.

"Sandy, I will get in after you…"

"You get in the passenger side…" Sandy said.

"Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "You are too drunk to drive…"

"I don't wanna drive…" Sandy said. "Just get into the passenger seat…"

"Fine…" Jeffrey said. "Whatever. But I'm not giving you the keys…" He opened the door and sat down in the car.

Sandy got into the drivers seat and shut the door, grinning at Jeffrey. "Yeah, well… That's ok, Jeffrey…" he said. "Cause we're not goin' anywhere…"

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "Sandy, are… Are you sure you're ok?" he asked.

Sandy licked his lips. "I'm better than ok…" he said.

"You're more than drunk, aren't you Sandy?" Jeffrey asked.

"What? You think that you're gonna pull some sort of confession outta me?" Sandy asked. "Why can't you forget about being Mr. DA for awhile and just be who you really wanna be?" He moved his hand down to Jeffrey's crotch and started to rub him through the fabric of his jeans.

Jeffrey groaned slightly, feeling Sandy's hand on him. "And… Just… Who would that be?" He managed to ask.

"You know exactly who that would be…" Sandy whispered into Jeffrey's ear.

Jeffrey pushed Sandy away from him. "Sandy… Just… Just stop, ok?"

"Why are you calling me that, Daddy?" Sandy whispered. "You know that's not my name…" He unzipped Jeffrey's jeans and started to stroke his cock.

Jeffrey groaned again, feeling himself hardening from Sandy's touch. It took every ounce of self-control that he had to push Sandy's hand away once more. "Sandy… You… You're drunk… You're high… You… You don't want this…"

Sandy pouted. "You don't want me, Daddy?" He asked dejectedly.

"Not… Not like this…" Jeffrey forced himself to say. He knew that it would be wrong to take advantage of him in his drunken state. He knew that Sandy would regret this in the morning.

"Well, I want you…" Sandy said, once again wrapping his fingers around Jeffrey's cock. "I wanna taste you, Daddy…" he whispered into his ear. "Please, Daddy… Let me taste you… Please, Daddy… Don't make me beg for it…"

Jeffrey was already panting by now, and what little self-control he had left seemed to fall away completely in that moment. The words now leaving Sandy's mouth too much for him resist. "Yes… Sandy… Suck… Suck my cock…" he breathed.

Sandy looked him in the eye. "Not until you get my name right…" he said, moving his thumb over the head of Jeffrey's cock.

"Damn it, Jonathan!" Jeffrey growled. "Just shut up and suck my cock!"

Sandy smirked at the words before taking Jeffrey's hard cock into his mouth, groaning over it as he felt Jeffrey's fingers tangling in his hair and pulling at it roughly.

"Harder… Jon… Harder…" Jeffrey breathed, tugging even harder at Sandy's soft, dark hair.

Sandy moved his tongue over Jeffrey's cock, sucking him even harder and faster than before.

Jeffrey groaned loudly, feeling himself being brought so close by the movements of Sandy's lips and tongue.

Sandy flicked his tongue over the head of Jeffrey's cock one last time before moving his mouth off of it completely.

Jeffrey panted for breath, looking over at Sandy. "Why did you… Stop?" He asked, completely exasperated.

Sandy smirked and licked what little remained of Jeffrey's pre cum off of his lips. "Because…" he said. "Now it's my turn to get what I want…"

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow, just staring at him as he was still panting with desire.

Sandy wriggled in the seat and pulled off his jeans and boxers. He moved over the stick shift and into the passenger seat, balancing to lower himself onto Jeffrey's hard cock, still slick with his own saliva. He moaned softly as he felt the first inch of Jeffrey slide into him.

Jeffrey groaned, throwing his head back slightly. Sandy was going slow. So, so painfully slow. He just couldn't wait that long. No way could he wait that long. He gripped Sandy by the hips, quickly forcing him down onto his cock completely.

Sandy yelped as he lost his footing, screaming when he felt Jeffrey forcing himself into him.

"That's… Just how you like it… Isn't it, John?" Jeffrey panted into Sandy's ear as he thrust into him hard. "You… Like it rough… Don't you?"

Sandy moaned loudly again. "Yes…" he groaned, throwing his head back completely as he wrapped his legs around Jeffrey and the seat. "Yes! Daddy! Yes!" He cried out, jerking on top of him.

Jeffrey gripped Sandy's hips tighter as he continued to move in and out of him, angling his thrusts just perfectly so.

"Daddy!" Sandy screamed, feeling every one of Jeffrey's thrusts go deeper and deeper inside of him. "Oh, Daddy! Daddy!" He panted as he brought his mouth to Jeffrey's ear. "Daddy…" he moaned. "Give your little boy what he needs…"

If Jeffrey had been able to think clearly in that moment he would've said no. He would've said that it probably wasn't the best thing to do since Sandy still had marks on his neck from how he'd found him barely over an hour ago. But he wasn't thinking clearly. He wasn't thinking at all. And neither was Sandy. Their minds were somewhere else entirely. They were both back there. Back in Europe. Back before anything bad had gone down between them. They were both lost in desire. Sticky. Dripping. Wet with the sweat that was making the clothing stick to their skin.

"Daddy please…" Sandy pleaded, his body still jerking on Jeffrey's hard cock. "Please Daddy… You know what I need…"

Jeffrey moved his hands off of Sandy's hips and snaked them around his neck. Squeezing down quite hard as he watched Sandy's eyes widen in reaction.

Sandy tried to gasp. Tried to breathe. Tried to moan at the feeling of Jeffrey's cock pounding into him even harder than before. But he couldn't. He thrashed on Jeffrey's lap as he could feel himself going into that space. He could feel the endorphins rushing through him. He was close. So, so desperately close.

Jeffrey tightened his hands around Sandy's neck as he continued thrusting into him as hard and as fast as he possibly could.

Sandy thrashed against him even harder. He closed his eyes as the sensations overwhelmed his body, feeling his cock graze against the fabric of Jeffrey's shirt as he came. His orgasm so intense from the lack of oxygen that everything went black the moment after.

Jeffrey groaned as he felt Sandy's body tightening around him. Pulling him in deeper. How he wished that he could just get lost inside of him forever. "John!" He moaned loudly as he came, collapsing back against the seat as he panted for breath. He stayed still like that for a few minutes, feeling Sandy's breathing finally beginning to even out above him. He knew that it was a bad idea to stay here, but he felt so wonderfully satiated that he just needed to sleep. And Sandy was already out like a light. He ran his fingers idly through Sandy's hair. "I love you Jonathan…" he whispered into his ear, pausing for a moment before reconsidering his words. "I mean… I love you Sandy…" He kissed him softly on the head before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

"You know…" Dinah said. "This isn't the best night for you to be smoking pot!"

"Not that it's any of your concern, D…" Jonathan growled. "But I wasn't smoking anything."

"Are you kidding me?" Dinah scoffed. "I can smell it all over you…"

"I said I didn't smoke anything!"

Dinah glared at Jonathan, her eyes as piercing as daggers.

"It was Sandy!" Jonathan finally admitted.

"WHAT?"

"I… I was with Sandy…."

"With him?"

"I… I almost killed him… I tried to strangle him to death, but I got interrupted…"

"You couldn't just wait a few more hours?"

"He needs to die! Every second that passes, he worms his way deeper and deeper into my family! You should see the way that my mother looks at him! It's disgusting! I just… I just couldn't wait…"

"Did you fuck him?"

"That's none of your damn business, D!"

"I hope that you weren't stupid enough to leave your DNA inside of him!"

"I didn't fuck him all right! Jesus Christ, I talked to him and tried to strangle him, that's all!"

Dinah raised an eyebrow. "But you wanted to fuck him…"

"Like I said, D, I got interrupted…"

"And what if within the next few hours he tells the police?"

"He won't! He's drunk! He's high! He's a fraud! He won't say one word!"

"Yeah well, you'd better hope not!"

"Even if he does, they'll just figure it's a drug-induced hallucination… He's not gonna tell, all right… If he did that would be confessing not only to fraud, but to the possession of illegal substances… Believe me… He may tell himself that's it's just harmless pot he's smoking, but that doesn't make it true! One little drug test administered by the boys in blue… He'll get thrown in jail and do you know how long somebody like Sandy would last in there? He's too weak… Too soft… Too pretty… Hell, I hope he does tell… Maybe getting his ass raped on a nightly basis is a worse fate than death… Then again, knowing Sandy, he'd probably like it… He always did like it rough… Liked it when I wrapped my hands around his pretty little throat and…"

"My God, would you just shut up?" Dinah interrupted. "I don't need to hear about Sandy's sexual proclivities, all right… I know... I've seen it with my own two eyes on more than one occasion and I do not particularly care to relive it…"

"Oh, what?" Jonathan laughed. "They used to let you watch?"

"No…" Dinah huffed. "They just never thought to lock the damn door!"

Jonathan smirked. "And you just never thought to knock…"

"Well, he's not exactly quiet either…" Dinah said. "So even when the door was locked…"

Jonathan started to laugh uncontrollably.

Dinah sighed and rolled her eyes before glancing over at the clock. "We'd better head out soon if we're going to stay on schedule…" she said.

Jonathan's expression changed, almost instantaneously, to one of all seriousness. "Did you get the voice samples?" He asked, looking Dinah straight in the eye.

"Yes…" she said. "I got the voice samples and the plane tickets… I assume that the explosives are in place…"

"Of course…" Jonathan said, patting his jacket pocket with a smirk. "And I've got my gun right here…"


	19. Chapter 19

Sandy groaned slightly as he awoke, momentarily aware of nothing save for the pounding in his own head. He tried to piece together what exactly had gone down that night. How much of it had been a dream? How much of it had been real? He remembered hands around his throat. The hands of the man that he loved. No. The hands of the men that he loved. It still ached severely. An ache that expert hands would not leave. A familiar ache that he hadn't felt in years. Jonathan. It had to've been Jonathan. But it couldn't've been Jonathan, because Jonathan was dead. And of course, there were no such things as ghosts. Finally, the sound of the breathing beneath him made him aware of more than just his own thoughts. His eyes fluttered open to see Jeffrey asleep beneath him. And then he remembered more. Being found unconscious. Coming back to the car. He eyed his surroundings and realized that they were still in Jeffrey's car. Holy crap. What the hell had he done? Had sex with Jeffrey in a car, right after he'd almost been strangled to death? And what had he told Jeffrey amidst his drunken stupor? Had he told him that he'd seen a ghost? Jeffrey would think he was crazy. Or worse. Had he told him that he still loved him? No. He wouldn't've let his guard down like that. No matter how much pot or alcohol he had in his system. He shifted to move off of Jeffrey when he saw him open his eyes.

"Sandy…" Jeffrey mumbled, momentarily surprised to see Sandy above him.

"Do you have any aspirin in this car?" Sandy mumbled. He had made up his mind. They were not going to discuss what had transpired here tonight. He was going to act like nothing had happened. And Jeffrey would take him home. And everything would work out just fine.

Jeffrey looked at him awkwardly. He knew what Sandy was doing. Of course he didn't want to say a word about what they'd done. Because then he would have to admit to himself that it had been so much more than just a drunken fuck. The thought momentarily crossed his mind to ask Sandy, but he quickly shot down the idea as pointless. Even if Sandy did still love him… Sandy wasn't one to so easily forgive. "Aspirin?" he mumbled, still half asleep and completely lost within his own thoughts.

"Yeah…" Sandy said, moving off of Jeffrey and back into the driver's seat. "Do you have any in here? My head is killing me…"

Jeffrey sighed as he looked into the glove compartment. "Nope…" he mumbled, before zipping his pants back up.

Sandy moved in the seat to pull on his boxers, followed quickly by his pants. Jeffrey was looking at him, and he could tell by his piercing gaze that he had so many questions, but, of course, he had no intention of answering any one of them. It was all just way too much for one night.

Jeffrey moved out of the car and opened the driver's side door. "Let me drive you home…" he said.

Sandy got out of the car and opened the passenger side door. He sat down in the seat and pulled his seatbelt on as he watched Jeffrey toss his stained shirt into the back seat, leaving on only the fitted t-shirt that he wore underneath. He rested his head against the seat as Jeffrey put the keys into the ignition and started to drive.

So many unanswered questions that needed to be asked. Jeffrey forced himself to stop thinking and focus on the road.


	20. Chapter 20

The ride back to Sandy's place was deafeningly silent. Both men had so much weighing on their minds, though neither would willfully admit that to the other.

Jeffrey pulled up in front of Sandy's house.

Sandy looked over at Jeffrey, his lips parted slightly as if he wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure exactly what.

"We're here…" Jeffrey said. He got out of the car and opened the passenger side door.

Sandy got out of the car and stumbled towards the door.

Jeffrey's eyes narrowed when they reached the door. "You leave your door unlocked?" he asked suspiciously.

Sandy thought for a moment. "I dunno…" he said, his head pounding way too much for him to care about an insignificant matter like that.

"Stay out here…" Jeffrey said, pushing the door open and stepping inside. He looked around the house wearily. For the most part, it appeared that no one else was there, and nothing seemed particularly out of place. He stepped into Sandy's bedroom and that was when he heard it. That soft noise that was almost inaudible. That soft noise that only well-trained, FBI Agent ears would even think to listen for.

"I'm sure it's nothing…" Sandy mumbled. "I probably just forgot to lock it…"

"I told you to stay outside…" Jeffrey barked.

"Yeah, well… I don't take orders from you anymore…" Sandy said, walking into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.

Jeffrey wondered if he was overreacting. Maybe even hearing things that weren't there. He looked under the bed and could barely make out the shape in the darkness.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sandy asked as he walked back into the room, only having been in the bathroom long enough to down four aspirin.

Jeffrey quickly got back onto his feet. "Sandy…" he said, trying his best to maintain his calm demeanor. "I need you to get out of here now…"

Sandy's eyes widened. "Jeffrey, what the hell is going on?" he asked, not even sure that he really wanted an answer to that question.

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Jonathan looked through the window. "There they are…" he said, a smirk crossing his face. "Just like we knew they would be…"

Dinah pulled the gun out of his jacket pocket, cocking it as she peered through the window. "And they left the window open just enough so that we don't have to worry about broken glass." She moved her finger to the trigger, but before she could pull it Jonathan's hand was on hers.

"Wait…" he said. "Wait a few more minutes… I want her to find them naked…"

"It's almost four…"

"But it's not four, and even if it was, we could spare a few minutes, this has to be perfect…"

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"Sandy, just get the hell out!" Jeffrey barked.

"Damn it, Jeffrey!" Sandy said stubbornly. "Tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Sandy, I swear to God, if you don't get out right now I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here myself!" Jeffrey snapped.

"Oh, come on!" Sandy scoffed. "Gimme a break, old man! I'd like to see you try!"

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"Man, they sure don't waste any time…" Jonathan said.

"And neither should we…" Dinah said. "They're both naked… It's almost four… I'm shooting her now…"

Jonathan gripped her hand again. "Shoot him first…" he said. "If you shoot her first, he'll have a few seconds to react… But if you shoot him first, she'll be trapped under his body for a few seconds… Giving you just enough time to put a bullet through her head…"

Dinah smirked. That boy was always thinking. She wrapped her fingers around the gun and pulled the trigger, watching in delight as the bullet flew through Josh's skull. Watching in delight as his body slumped down onto Cassie's. Listening joyfully for the reaction that she knew it would elicit from her.

Cassie screamed out as she heard the shot. For a brief second, she watched in horror as the blood of her lover dripped down onto her face. She was frozen in shock, unable to move. Her lips parted slightly in an attempt to call out his name, but the words just felt stuck in her throat.

The smile on Dinah's face widened as she pulled the trigger once more, sending a bullet straight through Cassie's head, the resulting crimson flow of blood spewing forth, truly the mostly beautiful sight she had ever seen. She was overcome by a tremendous sense of release. Of rejoice. Of rebirth. She felt vindicated of her erroneous actions. She had accomplished her goal. Her Hart had not died in vain. The bitch was dead. Really, really dead. Finally, after all of this time… She'd had her revenge.


	21. Chapter 21

Jonathan smiled. "We'd better get out of here…" he said.

"It's done…" Dinah smiled, the look on her face one of pure bliss, euphoria even.

"Not quite yet…" Jonathan said.

Dinah followed him back to her car.

"The samples…" he said.

Dinah smiled. "Right…" she said, pulling a tape out of her pocket. "Here you go…"

"Get us to the airport…" Jonathan said. "I can do this while you drive…"

Dinah put the keys into the ignition and started to drive.

Jonathan played the tape of Cassie's voice and smirked. "I just love computers…" he smiled. "I hope you're awake, Mommy Dearest…"

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Jeffrey grabbed Sandy and threw him over his shoulder. The adrenaline rushing through his system more than enough to fuel his already superior strength.

"Damn it! Put me down!" Sandy yelled, struggling against him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Jesus Christ, Jeffrey, put me down!"

Jeffrey ran out of the house with Sandy over his shoulder, making it just past his car before he could feel the force of the blast behind him. He stumbled and fell onto the ground, quickly moving to shield Sandy's smaller body with his own.

From his position on the ground Sandy couldn't see what was going on, but he could certainly hear it, the blast so loud that it hurt his ears. It took a few seconds for his brain to process what had just happened. And so he made no move to pull out from underneath Jeffrey, something about being in that position making him feel momentarily safe.

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"I don't sleep as well without you here, Bud…" Reva said, looking over at the picture on the nightstand. She'd had a bad feeling lingering over her all day long. And maybe that was why it was so hard for her to sleep. She almost jumped when she heard the phone ring. "Hello…" she said, picking it up.

Jonathan smiled as he typed the words on the keyboard. "Hello… Reva…"

"Cassie?" Reva asked. "It's four-o-clock in the morning! Is everything all right? Are you ok?"

"Reva… I need you to get to the farm now… It's… An emergency…"

"Cassie, what's going on? What's wrong? Do you want me to call the police?"

"No cops… Please… Reva… It's nothing like that… I just need my big sister… Please… This… Just can't wait…"

"I'll be right over, ok…" Reva said, before the line abruptly went dead. She jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed before grabbing her car keys and heading out the door.

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Jonathan laughed. "Now it's done…" he smiled. "Mommy Dearest is on her way to the farm…"

Dinah smiled. "And we're on our way outta town…." she said.


	22. Chapter 22

Jeffrey could barely believe what had just happened. He waited until a few minutes had passed before moving off of Sandy. He pulled him close and looked into his eyes. "Sandy… Are… Are you ok?" He asked.

Sandy was silent for a moment, his brain still having trouble comprehending what had just occurred. "I… I think so…" he answered detachedly

Jeffrey held Sandy close to him, and for a few minutes they stayed there on the ground like that. Sandy snuggled his head against Jeffrey's shoulder, needing so desperately to feel close to him in that moment.

"It's ok, Sandy…" Jeffrey whispered. "You're fine… I'm fine…"

Sandy pulled away from Jeffrey's embrace. "You… You saved my life…" he said, looking into his eyes.

"It's ok, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "You're going to be ok…"

Sandy just stared at him, the look on his face still one of complete disbelief.

"Sandy, I need you to do me a favor, ok?" Jeffrey said.

"What?" Sandy asked hesitantly.

"I need you to think for a minute… And tell me if you know why somebody would do something like this…" Jeffrey said.

As soon as the words left Jeffrey's mouth, a look of horrified understanding came across Sandy's face, his jaw dropping open in shock the moment that the realization hit him. Everything that had happened tonight night was real. There was no drug-induced hallucination. There was no ghost. It had been Jonathan. He was alive. All this time… He was alive and hell-bent on getting revenge.

"You know who did this, don't you Sandy?" Jeffrey asked.

"It was him…" Sandy said, barely able to form a coherent sentence in his state of utter disbelief.

"Who, Sandy?" Jeffrey asked. "Who did this?"

Sandy looked at Jeffrey, his eyes widening even more. "Reva…" he said.

"Reva?" Jeffrey asked, completely confused.

"I have to call Reva…" Sandy said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing her home phone number.

Jeffrey had no idea how to react to that. He sat back and watched as Sandy's expression changed to one of desperate frustration.

"She's not picking up the phone…" Sandy said. He dialed her cell phone number and hoped for a different result, but alas, he did not get one.

"Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "Just tell me who did this…"

Sandy stuck the phone in his pocket and looked into Jeffrey's eyes once more. "Jonathan…" he whispered hesitantly.

"Sandy, you're not making any sense…" Jeffrey said.

"He's not dead, Jeffrey…" Sandy said.

"What do you mean he's not dead?" Jeffrey said. "You said that he fell off the side of a mountain!"

"He did…" Sandy said. "But he's not dead!"

"Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "This is impossible…"

"He's alive, Jeffrey… I saw him…"

"When?" Jeffrey asked. "When did you see him?"

"Tonight…" Sandy said.

"Sandy… You were high out of your mind, and completely wasted…"

"It was him, Jeffrey!"

"And you're sure it wasn't just a drug-induced hallucination?"

"Could a hallucination have touched me, Jeffrey? Could a hallucination have kissed me? Could a hallucination have left these damn marks on my neck? Could a hallucination have planted that bomb in my house?"

"You told me that you didn't remember what happened to you tonight…"

"Yeah, well… I lied, Jeffrey… I thought that you would think I was crazy, because, the truth is; I was beginning to wonder the same thing myself… But after this, Jeffrey… I know… I know what I saw tonight… I know what I felt… Those were his hands around my neck. Jeffrey… He wanted me… And he wanted me dead…"

"Cassie…" Jeffrey said.

"What?" Sandy asked.

"If what you say is true then what's to stop him from going after the man who is responsible for the way that he grew up? Sandy, we have to go… If what you're saying is true… If he really is out for revenge on all of those who've wronged him than he is going to go after Edmund, and Cassie is going to get caught in the crossfire…" Jeffrey got up off of the ground, dusting what little soot he could off of himself, though not doing a very good job at it. "Come on, Sandy… We have to get to the farm…"

"No…" Sandy said. "It's Reva that we need to get to… It's Reva that he's going to target… And she's not picking up her phone, Jeffrey… What if he already got to her? Oh my God, Jeffrey… What if she's already dead? And it's all my fault…"

"Sandy, she's not dead all right… Look… We'll go there after, ok… I'm sure that she's fine… Ok, I just… I really need to get to that farm…"

"DAMN IT JEFFEY, COULD YOU JUST STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR DAMN JOB FOR ONE FUCKING MINUTE?" Sandy yelled. "Reva is the one who is in danger here!"

"Sandy… I said that we could…"

"Just shut up, Jeffrey…" Sandy said, turning to walk away.

"Where the hell are you going?" Jeffrey snapped.

"You won't drive me to Reva's…" Sandy said. "Then I'm walking there myself…"

"Damn it, Sandy! I am not letting you out of my sight! For all that you know he could be watching you!"

"Watching me? Watching me? Damn it, Jeffrey! He's not that careful! He is so fucking smug … The concept of failure probably never even crossed his mind!"

"But you can't be sure of that, Sandy!" Jeffrey snapped, grabbing him roughly by the wrist and pulling him close to him. "Damn it, Sandy! Don't you understand? I can't lose you!"

"You lost me a long, long time ago!" Sandy snapped, glaring into Jeffrey's eyes.

"If something were to happen to you right now, I would never be able to forgive myself!"

"And how do you think that I would feel if something happened to Reva?" Sandy snapped, slight tears coming to his eyes. "I would never be able to live with that, Jeffrey… Never… Don't you understand? Please… I know him so well, Jeffrey… I know how he thinks… He hated her, Jeffrey… He hated her so much… He's going to go after her first, I just know it… Please, Jeffrey… You have to take me there… Please, Jeffrey… Please…"

Jeffrey sighed. "All right, Sandy… Just… Get in the car…"

Sandy scurried into the car and slammed the door shut.

Jeffrey got into the car and stuck the key into the ignition. "Call Cassie, Sandy…" he said. "Make sure that she's all right…"

Sandy got out his cell phone and dialed Cassie's home, then cell phone number, but received no answer at either one. "Damn it!" He spat, throwing his cell phone against the dashboard frustratedly.

Jeffrey turned into Reva's driveway. "No answer?" He asked.

"No…" Sandy said, before rushing out of the car. He ran to the door and began to pound on it. "Reva!" He said. "Reva, open the door! Reva!" Frustrated with getting no answer, he pulled out his key and fumbled with the lock. When he finally got it open, he walked inside, looking around and seeing no sign of Reva. He ran back out of the house in a panic. "She's gone, Jeffrey! She's gone!" He said, hurrying back into the car.

"It's ok, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "It's ok…"

"Damn it! Stop saying that to me!" Sandy shouted. "Just drive, ok… Maybe she's at the farm…"

Jeffrey sighed as he headed for the farm.


	23. Chapter 23

Reva pulled up in front of the farm and got out of the car. She walked to the door and knocked. "Cassie…" she said. "Cassie, I'm here…" She pounded on the door again, but still received no answer. She pulled her key out of her purse and fumbled with the lock before finally managing to get the door open. "Cassie…" she said. "Are you here?" She stood, frozen, as an eerie silence filled her ears. "Cassie…" she repeated again, before heading to the bedroom. She stood in the doorway, pushing it open slowly, the slight creaking noise that it made a welcome relief from the silence. She stepped into the room and flicked on the light switch, gasping at the sight in front of her. She felt sick, yet was compelled to step even closer. "Bud…" she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Cassie…" She felt herself go weak as she gazed upon their naked forms, covered in nothing but their own blood. She stumbled onto the floor, a sickening pain seeming to shoot through her at that very moment. She felt like her heart was going to stop beating, and suddenly it became very hard to breathe, and she fell unconscious onto the ground.

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"Cassie…" Sandy said as he walked into the farmhouse. "Cassie, are you here?"

Jeffrey followed him inside and headed immediately for the bedroom, the grisly sight striking him instantly. "Oh my God…" he muttered under his breath. "Oh my God, no… This can't be…" He turned his gaze to Reva, noticing that there were no apparent wounds on her, and kneeled down next to her, feeling her pulse. "She's alive…" he said, looking up at Sandy who had just walked into the room.

Sandy fell silent at the sight in front of him, his gaze fixed on it for a few seconds before he ran outside to throw up.

Jeffrey sighed and chased after him. "Sandy… Sandy, are you all right?" he asked.

Sandy looked up at him. His eyes wide and teary. His bottom lip quivering. "This is all my fault, Jeffrey! This is all my fault!"

"No, Sandy. Don't say that. It's not your fault. You know this… There's nothing you coulda done…"

"You wanted to come here, Jeffrey! We coulda stopped it! You wanted to come here, and I made you take me to Reva's, and now they're dead! They're both dead!"

"Sandy, you don't know that we coulda stopped anything! Until the autopsies come back… They could very well have been dead before we got here…"

"AND WHAT IF THEY WEREN'T JEFFREY? WHAT IF THEY WEREN'T?"

"Sandy, don't do this right now… OK… Don't blame yourself! You need to be there for Reva… She needs someone… You're all that she has…"

"I'm nothing, Jeffrey… I'm nothing… Her sister's dead because of me… Her husbands dead because of me… And I'm not even her son! How… How am I going to look her in the eye and tell her that, now? After all this happened because of me?"

"Sandy… You can't… You just… You just hafta… You hafta be there for her, OK Sandy? She needs you Sandy… Ok, so you can't just stand here blaming yourself, because it's not gonna do anyone any good, ok?"

"Jeffrey, it's gonna come out! They're gonna hafta question me, because I have information about this, and… And… And I can't tell them who did it without blowing my cover, and she's gonna find out… And she's gonna hate me… How am I gonna live with myself after that? You tell me, Jeffrey! You tell me how!"

"Sandy… Sandy, I… I can't answer that for you, ok? But… I'm gonna be here for you, ok? Every step of the way, I'm gonna be here… I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, ok?"

"It's not your job, Jeffrey… It's not your job to be here for me… Or to care about me… Or to help me…"

"Yes Sandy, it is! Don't you get it? I love you! I never stopped loving you! And I'm not gonna stop loving you, ok?"

"Why are you telling me this right now? I don't… I don't need… I don't need to be hearing this right now… OK, please… Please, just leave me alone, please…"

"Sandy, you know I can't do that… You know I hafta call the police, and get some back up out here, soon… Sandy, I thought that I would give you a few minutes…"

"Jeffrey, how am I gonna tell her? I can't do this, Jeffrey… I can't… I can't do that… I can't break her heart… I can't do that… Please…"

"Sandy, she needs you…"

"No… No she doesn't need me… She's gonna hate me…"

"Sandy… Sandy she loves you… And I know one thing from experience… Once you love Sandy Foster, you don't just stop…"

"I can't do this, Jeffrey!"

"Yes, Sandy… You are doing this because you have to do this, Sandy. She deserves to know why this happened…"

"How's she even gonna look at me, Jeffrey? She's gonna blame me… Or worse… She's gonna blame herself."

"No. No Sandy. There's only one person to blame for this. And that person is Jonathan Randall and we are going to catch him, but I need you… I need you to be strong Sandy… And I'm gonna need you to tell the police every single little detail of what you know. Ok, Sandy?"

Sandy nodded slightly.

"Now, she's gonna find out. And I would rather have you tell her than have her find out second hand. I'm sure you would too. So Sandy, I know that this is the worst time in the world to put this on her, but you don't have much of a choice, ok? Now, I… I can stay outside, call the police if you… If you wanna be alone with her Sandy, but I… I need to call them, ok?"

Sandy nodded again, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Jeffrey kissed him softly on the head. "You can do this Sandy." he whispered into his ear before pulling him into a tight embrace.

Sandy buried his head against Jeffrey's neck, the tears, by now, flowing freely down his face.

Jeffrey held him tighter as he could feel his body shaking against him. "Sandy…" he whispered. "Sandy please… You… You have to do this right now…"

Sandy pulled away from him. "I can't, Jeffrey…" he said weakly, looking up into his eyes.

Jeffrey moved his hand to wipe away Sandy's tears. "Please, baby…" he said, not even realizing what he'd just called him. "You have to do this, Sandy… It just can't wait…"

Sandy nodded slightly, hesitating only momentarily, before walking back into the house, leaving Jeffrey all alone outside.

Jeffrey sighed and sat down on the ground. He watched to make sure that Sandy couldn't see him before he started to cry. He held his head in his hands as the quiet sobs racked his body. How did this happen? Where did this all go so wrong? It had been a mistake… Letting a case get personal like this… But, then again… How could it not be? Cassie had become a close friend. Trusting him even, when few others would... And now she was dead. He had failed her. He had failed his friend. He had failed his job. And worst of all, he had failed Sandy, yet again. He knew how much Sandy was hurting right now, and that just made his own pain all the worse. He wiped his tears away and tried to get his emotions under control. He couldn't be the caring and feeling Jeffrey right now. He needed to be the strong and emotionless FBI Agent, stone cold in the wake of tragedy. That would be the only way to get this done. He pulled out his cell phone and stared at it blankly. He needed to be sure that he wouldn't break down again before he made the call.


	24. Chapter 24

Sandy walked back into the bedroom to see Reva slowly coming to. He knelt down beside her and held her. "Reva…" he whispered softly.

Reva looked up at Sandy, instantly noticing the marks on his neck. "Sandy…" she said. "Oh my God, Sandy… What happened to you?"

Sandy swallowed nervously. "It's nothing Reva…" he said softly. "Can… Can you get up?"

Reva stood up and looked past him, her eyes welling up with tears. "This can't be real, Sandy…" she said. "Please, Sandy… Please, tell me that this is all just a bad dream that I'm going to wake up from very soon…"

Sandy stood up and took her hand, leading her out of the bedroom and away from the corpses. She followed willingly.

"Reva… I… You know I can't tell you that… But there is something that I need to tell you…"

"They're not dead, right?" Reva said. "They're not really dead, right? That's what you need to tell me…"

"No… Reva… But… I… I know who killed them…"

"Who?" Reva asked. "Who could do something like this, Sandy? Who could do something this horrible, this vile, this disgusting?"

"I will tell you in a second, Reva… But… But first I need to tell you that I…"

"That you what?" Reva asked.

"Reva, I… I'm not… I… I'm not your son…"

Reva stared at him incredulously. "What?" She asked, completely heartbroken at the prospect.

"I'm not your son, Reva… And… Jonathan… Your… Your real son… He's the one… He… He did this… Reva, I'm sorry…"

Reva slapped Sandy across the face.

Sandy winced, momentarily turning away from her, his eyes burning.

"You worthless little piece of trash!" She yelled. "How could you do this to my family?"

"I never set out to hurt anyone…" Sandy pleaded, looking back into her eyes. "I… I love you Reva, you hafta know that…"

"SHUT UP! Shut up, Sandy! I don't wanna hear it!"

"Reva… I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry… You hafta know how sorry I am…"

"You came into my life… You made me love you… You… I took you into my family…"

"Reva…"

"You were gonna tell me, weren't you? The other day… You were gonna tell me…"

"I just…"

"And why didn't you tell me then? Why'd you back out?"

"I couldn't… I couldn't do it… You… You looked at me, Reva… And you… You had so much love in your eyes and you weren't even… You weren't angry or anything… You weren't disappointed… I couldn't do it… I couldn't… I couldn't break your heart like that…"

"And you don't think it's breaking right now? You have no idea, Sandy, what that's like… I had to walk in here… And my sister is dead… And my husband is dead… And they were sleeping together for I don't know how long… And now to find out that you're not even my son… And my real son is behind this… How do you even know that, Sandy? Huh? You expect me to believe it? You've been lying to me this whole time! Why shouldn't I think you're lying now?"

"Reva… I'm telling the truth, ok… Why… Why… Why would I be telling you this if it wasn't true?"

"To hurt me… Maybe that's what you wanted since you came into town… Maybe… Maybe you really are my son and you're just trying to hurt me because I left you…"

"No… No… I'm not like that! I'm not like him!"

"No? Not like him how? You don't hurt people, Sandy? You didn't come to town just to hurt me?"

"I love you, Reva… I love your family… I do…"

"You know I should've known better… I mean yeah you acted angry towards me at first but you warmed up to me so fast I shoulda known you wouldn't forgive being abandoned that easily… And now… Now I have no one…. What am I gonna do now, Sandy? I just wanna lay here and scream and cry and cry some more!"

"You have me, Reva…"

"NO!"

"You have me… I love you…"

"They're dead, Sandy! They're dead! Can you not see that? Did… Did you not go in there and see they're dead? They're dead! They're both… They're dead!"

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Reva… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"How could you lay something like this on me now? Just to clear your own conscience? Do you know how selfish that is?"

"I'm not being selfish… I'm telling you this now because… I don't want you to find out some other way… I'm telling you this now because when the police get here I have to tell them that I know who did this so that they can find him and put him in jail where he belongs…"

"Oh, so you're doing this for me? Huh, Sandy? Well you tell me this then, what made you think he would never come here, huh?"

"Does… Doesn't matter…"

"Yes it does! You don't think I deserve to know that much?"

"I… I thought he was dead, ok?"

"WHAT? You mean you've believed he's been dead this whole time and you… What? This little game you've been playing… My son's been dead and you didn't even bother to tell me? What, Sandy? The thought never crossed your mind that I might like to know that information?"

"But he's not dead because I saw him… I saw him tonight… He tried to…"

"He tried to what, Sandy? He tried to what?"

"He tried to… Kill me…"

"And why would my son do that?"

"Because he's insane!"

"Did you try to kill him, Sandy? Is that why you thought he was dead?"

"It was an accident! He fell!"

"Did he, Sandy? Did he really?"

"I tried… Tried to pull him up… I did… I did, Reva… But… I should've… I tried to pull him up… And then he slipped… And he fell… I saw him fall… So far down…"

"What were you two even doing up so high?"

"He used to… He liked to go up there when we…" Sandy swallowed nervously, unable to finish the sentence. "And then he was… He was high and… He… He just… I told him not to stand by the edge and…"

"My son did not do this, Sandy!" Reva screamed, unable, or at least unwilling, to believe that her own son could do such a hideous thing. "My son would not! No! My son! NO! NO! NO, my son! He's not a murderer, Sandy! He's not! He's not!"

"He… Reva… I'm sorry… It had to've been him… It had to've been him… It can't be a coincidence… He tried to kill me twice tonight… And what they just happen to get shot, Reva?"

"Twice?"

"He tried to strangle me in the alleyway…. When I got home… There was a bomb… I did… I didn't even hear it… If Jeffrey wouldn't've been… Been there… Then I'd be dead too…"

"Jeffrey? What does he have to do with any of this? Why was he even at your house, Sandy? Sandy?"

"Doesn't matter, Reva… Doesn't matter… Ok… I know… Look, I know you hate me, ok… And you hafta know… I never meant to hurt anyone… I… If I'd a known he was back in town I woulda told you…"

"If he tried to kill you twice I'm sure there was some time between those two attempts… Why didn't you tell me then, huh? Why, Sandy?"

"Reva… I… The first time he tried I was so drunk… And I was high… And… I thought I was seein' things… I thought I'd lost my mind, I mean…"

"Then why? Why're you so sure this is him?"

"Because the bomb, I mean… Who else? I know that he knows how to make 'em… And besides, far as I know, nobody else wants me dead…"

"I won't believe it! Any of this, Sandy! I don't even know why I'm standing here, listening to this drivel… Ok, because I don't know how much longer I can go without sobbing uncontrollably… So… So if you'll excuse me now, Sandy…"

"Reva, wait!" Sandy said shakily, unable to hold back a stream of tears.

"Just shut up, Sandy!" Reva yelled, her own face completely tear-streaked by now as well. "Just shut up and let me grieve!"


	25. Chapter 25

Jeffrey could hear the yelling coming from inside the house. It killed him to hear Reva telling Sandy those things, and he couldn't help but blame himself for Sandy's whole charade. It was him, after all, who had recruited Sandy to play Jonathan in the first place. Of course, that had been a completely different situation. There had been no real family involved…

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_ "Sandy if you leave right now, you know that you leave all this behind…" Jeffrey said as he walked through the door._

_ Sandy zipped up his suitcase and turned to face Jeffrey. "I thought you left…" he said coldly. _

_"Sandy, I just… I have to make it clear to you that all this… What we've done… Who we've been… It stays here… You can't go play Jonathan somewhere else… Once you step foot on that plane you are Sandy Foster…"_

_ "I can do whatever I want…" Sandy spat. _

_ "No, Sandy… You can't!"_

_ "Yeah, well, don't worry, ok…" Sandy said. "I'm not gonna spoil your precious little investigation, all right… I'm just going to get myself as far away from you as I possibly can…" _

_ "You're really willing to leave all this behind?"_

_ "Leave what behind? Taking orders from you? Living in close quarters with you… The man that I love… The man that I hate… And the psycho bitch that you cheated on me with? Yeah, Jeffrey, I'm more than willing to leave all that behind…"_

_ "Sandy, I'm warning you…" Jeffrey started, stepping in front of the doorway._

_ "Just get outta my way, Jeffrey…" Sandy spat. "I've got a plane to catch…"_

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Jeffrey sighed at the memory. It all seemed so distant. Like a whole 'nother lifetime ago. He listened again, as the sounds coming from inside the house fell almost silent. They'd finally had it out. Or maybe they'd just killed each other. He shook his head at the bad joke and dialed his boss's number.

"Hello…" the man answered the phone.

Jeffrey swallowed nervously. "This is agent O'Neill…" he said.

"O'Neill! Damn it, O'Neill! You're alive! When they couldn't find your body after the bomb went off… You had me fucking scared! I didn't know where the hell you were…"

"So, I take it you've heard then?" Jeffrey said. "Does that mean that you've already sent back up?"

"Jeffrey, I sent them over an hour ago…"

Jeffrey eyes darted around, as he listened closely for the sound of any approaching siren. "Are… Are you sure?" Jeffrey said. "I mean, there's… There's no one here… Did you send them to the location of the shooting, or only the blast sight?"

"Shooting? What shooting? O'Neill, maybe the blast shook your head up a bit, huh? I have them combing your place right now…"

"My place?" Jeffrey asked, confused.

"Yeah… For the bomb… That's not what you were talking about? O'Neill, you tell me right now, what the fuck is going on?"

"A bomb went off in my house?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yes… What, you didn't know? Where the hell were you tonight?"

Jeffrey had his suspicions, but still, it all seemed too weird to make any sort of sense. "The umm… The point of origin of the blast, have they found it yet?"

"Yes, O'Neill, the bomb had been planted…"

"Under the bed…" Jeffrey said, as the horrid realization finally washed over him completely.

"Yes… How did you know?"

"I umm… I wasn't the only one targeted tonight…"

"Is that why you called me?"

"Yes…"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the Winslow farm…"

"The princess?"

"She's umm… She's…"

"No, O'Neill… Don't! Don't even say…"

"She's dead…"

The man sighed. "Another bomb?"

"No, a shooting… And Joshua Lewis is dead too…"

"Joshua Lewis? What? Why?"

"Look, could you just get some back up out here soon? I need to put an APB out on Jonathan Randall…"

"O'Neill, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"I have a witness who…"

"Who saw the shooting?"

"No, but…"

"Then how could your witness possibly know?"

"Look, George, it's complicated all right… Just, get some back up out here now… And the ME… And an ambulance…"

"Ambulance? Somebody survived?"

"I found Cassie's sister passed out… I know she's already woken up, and she doesn't have any apparent injuries, but I don't think that it would hurt to get her checked out…"

"Just gimme a second…"

Jeffrey listened to the click of the phone, and a few minutes later he heard another one.

"All right, O'Neill, they're on their way…"

"Thank you…"

"Don't you hang up on me, Agent…"

"What?"

"You still haven't explained to me, O'Neill… You said that Jonathan Randall was dead… You said that you were told by…"

"Yeah, well, he saw him tonight…"

"He did, O'Neill? Are you with him? Is that where you were tonight? With him? Is that what's distracted you from doing your job? Is that why you didn't protect her?"

"If I hadn't been with him, I would've died in that explosion, and you damn well know it!"

"Don't you talk to me like that, O'Neill… You are damn near bordering on insubordination! And with your job coming up for review so soon, I wouldn't be surprised if, given your recent failure…"

"Look, George… You can berate me about this later, all right? But if you don't trust me to run this investigation, then you'd better get your ass down here soon and do the damn job yourself!" Jeffrey huffed.

"I swear to God, O'Neill, sometimes you are just absolutely infuriating…"

"Well, then, what's it going to be? Are you running this case or am I?"

"I don't know, OK? For all I know the local cops are going to want to claim jurisdiction…"

"The local cops? Come on, George… Cooper couldn't solve a case if his life depended on it…"

"Look, O'Neill… I will get there as soon as I can, all right… But I need you run things for me in the interim…"

"I will…" Jeffrey said. "You just make sure that we have complete jurisdiction here…"

"I have a bad feeling that this is going to become a joint investigation…"

"Fine. Whatever. Just hurry up." Jeffrey said before hanging up the phone.


	26. Chapter 26

Sandy held Cassie's hand as the tears rolled down his face, so consumed by his grief that he was, momentarily, in a trancelike state, one in which the blood and the nakedness of the corpses no longer even seemed to faze him. "I'm sorry…" he said shakily. "You're both dead because of me… I'm sorry for everything… If I could take it all back I would… I swear… I'm sorry… I loved you both like family; I really, really did…"

Jeffrey walked back into the house, his heart breaking again at the sight of Sandy holding Cassie's cold, dead hand. He was an absolute mess, and Jeffrey couldn't stop the thought from crossing his mind, that this could very well turn out to be Sandy's undoing. He stepped closer to him and pried his hand from Cassie's.

"I wanna hold it!" Sandy said, looking up at him.

"Sandy, you can't…" Jeffrey said.

"I need to tell them!"

"You're contaminating the evidence!" Jeffrey spat harshly, not knowing what else to say.

Sandy's jaw dropped open at the words. "Contaminating the evidence? Jeffrey, how could you? How could you be so damn cold? You haven't even shed one tear since we've gotten here, have you? You don't care abut this family! This is all just another case to you, isn't it?"

"Sandy, you know that's not true!"

"Look at them, Jeffrey! Don't you have feelings? Doesn't it make you feel anything to see them lying there dead? Doesn't it hurt you?"

"Sandy, you know that it does, but…"

"I just… I need to tell them how much I loved them…" Sandy said, grabbing Cassie's hand again. "I just… I need to tell them how sorry I am…" He turned his gaze back to the corpses. "I'm sorry…" he said. "I'm sorry… Cassie, Josh… I'm so, so sorry…"

Jeffrey pried Sandy's hand from Cassie's again and pulled him into his arms. "Shh, Sandy…" he whispered. "They know, ok… They know how much you loved them, they do…"

"No…" Sandy cried. "I need to tell them… I need to tell them…"

Jeffrey stroked Sandy's hair softly, holding him against him. "They know, Sandy…" he murmured into his ear. "They know…"

"They… Don't…"

Jeffrey could hear the sound of the sirens fast approaching. "They know, Sandy…" he whispered one last time.

Sandy pulled away from him at the sound of the sirens. "They're here…" he said, wiping the tears from his face.

Jeffrey nodded slightly. "They're going to question you, Sandy… You just tell them everything that you know about Jonathan… Every detail of what went down between the two of you earlier tonight… Every place you think he might head off to now… Every possible motive he might've had for doing this…"

"Ok…" Sandy whispered.

"Sandy… Umm…" Jeffrey hesitated to ask the question, but he knew that it was a necessary one. "I know you're going to say that it's none of my damn business, but, do you still keep that picture in your wallet?"

Sandy pulled his wallet out hesitantly. He pulled out the picture and handed it to Jeffrey, his hand shaking.

"Thank you, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "I will give this back to you when…"

"Just keep it!" Sandy said. "I have no use for it anymore!"

Jeffrey stuck the picture in his pocket. "I'm going to put an APB out on him, ok… That's why I need it… We're going to find him…"

"Ok…" Sandy said. "Ok, can I please… Just… Get this over with?"

Jeffrey nodded before kissing Sandy softly on the head. "Lemme go see who's going to question you…" he said. "But first…"

"What?" Sandy asked.

"I need you to promise me that you're going to be completely honest with them, Sandy… What you've been doing here is a crime, I know, but… Look, that and any other crimes you may have committed that relate to this, I think that I have enough pull as the DA and with the FBI to get you out of it… Look, what I'm trying to say, Sandy, is… We can't have anything hindering this investigation… I… I need you to be completely honest, even if you think that it's going to get you into trouble… Do… Do you understand me, Sandy?"

Sandy nodded slightly, but didn't say a word.

"I won't let you end up in jail, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "I promise…"

"Ok…" Sandy said, weakly.

Jeffrey took his hand and led him out of the room.

Sandy stood by the door as he watched Jeffrey talking to the police. He could barely make out what they were saying because he was so overwhelmed by his own feelings. His head was spinning. His thoughts were racing. That horrible combination of fear and grief, of guilt, shame, and remorse, of sadness, and anger, and so many other, even indescribable emotions, now welling up inside of him, to the point where he felt like he was going to break. His mother had always told him that he was just like his father, and while it may have been true that he had tried to solve his problems in the past by running away, it was only now that he realized how much he was also like his mother, or, at the very least, how much he wished that he could be like her. With all of the horror surrounding him right now, and the knowledge that there was only more to come, he wished so desperately that he could just get lost inside of his own head. That he could fragment off one tiny part of himself to deal with this so that the rest of him wouldn't have to. That he could, even standing here in the middle of the house where it had just happened, forget all about what was going on right now.


	27. Chapter 27

Jonathan walked into the airport bathroom. He opened the door to the stall and walked inside, locking it behind himself. He pulled out his wallet and took out the picture of Jeffrey and Sandy. "Well, Daddy, you're dead now…" he said, his voice low and emotionless. "Et tu, Sandman… Et tu…" He shook his head slightly, stuffing the picture into his jacket pocket before pulling out the old, frayed one of him and Sandy. He flipped it over and read the writing scribbled so sloppily on the back. "Pictures fade…" he said, his voice wavering, if ever so slightly. "Memories stay vivid…" He laughed, almost maniacally so. "Bullshit, Sandman! Bullshit!" And now the anger in his voice was evident. "I saved your life and so I had the right to take it away!" He growled, before he started to laugh again. "It's funny, though, because I'll always remember you not for the love that we shared, but for what you became to me in the end, a traitor. I hope you're having fun with my Daddy in hell, bitch. I'll join you there in about a century. But for now I'm just glad to be rid of you…" He pulled the other picture out of his pocket and stared at them both. "And one last cleansing ritual…" he whispered. "Since I didn't actually get to see you burn…" He grabbed his lighter from his jacket pocket, lighting the edges of the photographs before throwing them into the sink. "Bye bye, Sandman…" he said, his voice, again, emotionless. "I've finally moved on…"

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Jeffrey walked back over to Sandy. "Do you have any idea where Will, RJ, Edmund, and Tammy are?" he asked.

Sandy looked up at him, it taking a few seconds for him to collect his thoughts and snap out of his momentary haze. "Tammy is in New York with Edmund…" he said. "She told me about it last week… That's why I thought that this place was safe, Jeffrey… He used to be so meticulous… I mean… He had to've known that Edmund wasn't here… I'm sure that he was watching…"

"And the boys, Sandy?" Jeffrey asked.

Sandy shrugged his shoulders.

"They were at my sister's house…" Frank said as he walked into the house. "But she wants to work the case, so she's dropping them off with my father… She and Gus will be here soon…"

Jeffrey gave his boss an exasperated look as he saw him finally walking through the door.

"Joint investigation…" George said firmly, looking him straight in the eye.

Jeffrey shook his head with a sigh. "I'm going to call Edmund…" he said.

"He's not exactly your biggest fan…" Sandy said.

"Well, somebody needs to tell him and Tammy to get back over here…" Jeffrey replied.

"Maybe it's better that they're out of town…" Frank said. "Maybe they're safer…"

"If they're in danger…" George said, his voice low and almost uncertain. "They have the right to know…"

"Are they in danger, Sandy?" Jeffrey said, his gaze fixed on him once more. "I'm sure your guess is better than anyone's…"

"I don't know…" Sandy said, his voice suddenly calm and emotionless. "I don't think that he would risk it… I mean… I'm sure that he set the bomb in my house on the same night that he killed them, so that he could leave right after and not have to worry about getting caught a second time around…"

"I'm going to call Edmund…" Jeffrey said again, this time reaching for his phone.

Sandy stilled his hand. "Let me call Tammy…" he said. "Edmund won't listen to a word you have to say… Tammy will listen to me. She's my best friend…"

Jeffrey sighed. "Fine. Sandy. Go. Do it. But don't tell her Cassie's dead yet. That's something that nobody should have to hear over the phone. And then get right back over here. George is going to question you…"

"All right…" Sandy said, grabbing his phone and walking away from the crowd of law enforcement. "Tammy… Tammy… Please pick up…" he whispered softly.

Jeffrey watched him walk away, surprised at what appeared to be his sudden lack of emotion. His voice had sounded so calm and collected now, a stark contrast to the sobbing mess that he had been less than an hour ago.


	28. Chapter 28

"Romeo, oh Romeo… Wherefore art thou Romeo…" Tammy said with a laugh as she walked back into the hotel suite.

"For what it's worth…" Edmund said. "I think that you made a much better Juliet than the one in the play…"

Tammy giggled. "Liar…" she said.

"Am not…" he snapped back, a look of mock hurt playing across his face.

"It's all just so romantic…" Tammy said, hopping onto the bed.

"Ah, well…" Edmund said, sitting down next to her. "If you think that was romance that can't be topped, maybe I should just cancel the rest of the evening…"

"There's a rest of the evening?" Tammy said, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Yes…" Edmund said. "I mean… I did get us dinner reservations at the hottest spot in town…"

The smirk on Tammy's face only grew wider as she grabbed Edmund by the tie, pulling him in close. "I think that I want dessert first…" she whispered into his ear before pulling him into a kiss. She lied back on the bed as he moved on top of her, his hand moving to grope her breasts through the soft fabric of her dress. Tammy pulled back from his lips with a sigh as she heard her cell phone ring.

"Just… Let it ring…" Edmund mumbled.

"Edmund…" Tammy said, pushing him playfully. "It could be something important…"

"And this isn't?" Edmund said with a raised eyebrow.

"Just get off of me…" Tammy said with a smirk. "But hold that thought…"

Edmund moved off of her, a wide grin playing across his features.

Tammy moved off of the bed to grab her phone. "Hello…" she said her voice completely breathless.

"Tammy…" Sandy said. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Tammy said, panting slightly. "Yeah… I… I'm fine…"

"Is Edmund with you?" Sandy asked. "Is he ok?"

"Yes. Sandy. He's fine…" she said, her breathing finally returning to normal. "What's with all of the questions, Sandy? What is going on?"

"You two need to get back to town…" Sandy said. "There's… Look… Just… Something's going on… All right… And… And you two need to be here…"

Edmund noticed the look of worry that crossed Tammy's face.

"Sandy what is going on? Is it Will? Is it RJ?"

"Tammy, your brothers are fine, ok? You two just really need to get back here…"

"Is it Mom?" Tammy asked.

"Tammy… Just… Please…"

"It's Mom, isn't it?" Tammy said. "Sandy what is going on?"

"Tammy, it's nothing I can say over the phone, ok? You two just really need to get back here… And please… Just… Be careful, ok?"

"Sandy?" Tammy said, her voice getting frantic. "Please tell me what is going on!"

"Tammy… I… I have to go…" Sandy said, hanging up the phone quickly.

"Sandy?" Tammy said, her voice almost shaking. "Sandy!?!" She threw the phone across the room and looked over at Edmund. "We have to get back to town…" she said. "As soon as we can…"

"What happened?" Edmund said. "Tammy, what's going on?"

"I don't know…" she said, her voice shaking. "Sandy said that something happened, but he won't tell me what it is over the phone… He said that the boys are ok, but when I asked him about Mom he just kinda froze up…"

"Tammy, it's ok…" Edmund said, pulling her close. "I'm sure that your mother is fine…"

"And what if she's not, Edmund?" Tammy said, trying to hold back her tears, as she was almost shaking. "What if she's not?"

"Then…" Edmund said. "I don't know…" He softly stroked her hair, holding her close to him.

"We just need to get home…" Tammy whispered to him.

Edmund nodded slightly. "I will call for the jet…" he said softly.


	29. Chapter 29

A broad smile crossed Jonathan's face as he plopped down into the seat next to Dinah. "So, why'd you pick this place, anyways?" He asked, looking over the stub of his plane ticket. "I've never even heard of it…"

"Well, that's kind of the point…" Dinah said. "I mean, that, and they don't extradite…"

"Extradite?" Jonathan said. "Almost sounds like you're afraid to get caught…"

"If I wasn't…" Dinah said. "Do you think that I would've left town so abruptly?"

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. "Aunt Cassie's dead… My Dad is dead… Sandman is dead… What's left for you there anyways?"

Dinah looked away from him. "Nothing…" she said. "Never mind…"

Jonathan laughed. "If I didn't know better…" he said. "I would think that you had a conscience…"

Dinah turned to look at him again. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"It means…" Jonathan said. "That you are displaying the classic signs of regret…"

Dinah laughed. "Just how drunk are you?" She asked.

Jonathan squinted slightly, as if he was pondering the answer. "Not especially…" he said. "A few drinks to toast my newfound freedom and that is all…"

Dinah laughed. "You should know better than to think that I would regret what we did…" she said.

"No, well… Maybe you regret something else… Maybe you wished that you could stay in Springfield… Maybe you have reasons that you're not sharing with me…"

"So what if I do?" Dinah said. "Remind me again why that's any of your business…"

"In essence…" Jonathan said. "You just ran away with me… You do realize that…"

"So what?" Dinah said. "That's how I live my life… I don't bother with thinking things to death, I just feel…"

"You just feel what?" Jonathan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just feel…" Dinah said. "And I do what I feel like doing… Even if most people would find it nonsensical…"

Jonathan laughed. "It's ok to miss your dad you know…" he said. "And your brother and whoever else…"

Dinah looked at him surprised. "What?" she said. "How did you…"

Jonathan laughed again. "Oh, come on, Dinah…" he said. "You must've known that I had to do a little checking up on you…"

Dinah looked away from him again and couldn't help but laugh slightly. "I think that I need a drink too…" she said.

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It took Sandy quite a bit of time to compose himself after that phone call. He could tell by Tammy's voice that she knew exactly what was going on and it killed him to know how much it hurt her. Reva's reaction to the whole thing flashed through his head again as he wondered if Tammy would take it even worse. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, breathing deeply before sticking his phone back into his pocket. He walked back over to Jeffrey and the rest of the law enforcement. "They're on their way…" he said, trying to keep his voice cool and collected. "I didn't tell her what happened, but by the tone in her voice I think that she's got it all figured out…"

Jeffrey looked over at Sandy. He could tell that he was trying to keep up a calm, detached demeanor, but by now there was no hiding the emotion behind those beautiful blue eyes. He almost had to look away from him for a second, mentally reminding himself that he was here as an FBI Agent, and nothing else. He wanted to wrap his arms around him, but with the myriad of people that had since gathered; he forced himself to hold back. "Well…" he said, finally forcing himself to look back at Sandy. "That much was inevitable, I guess…"

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"Here you go… Another drink for you…" Dinah said with a smile on her face. "To us…"

"To us…" Jonathan said, clinking his drink against hers. "And our newfound freedom…"

"Freedom…" Dinah smiled, quickly downing her drink.

"Freedom…" Jonathan said, downing his drink quite quickly as well. "Freedom from the demons of the past…"

Dinah smiled at him. "You know, I have to say…" she said. "Joining forces with you has gotta be one of the smartest things that I ever did…"

"Well, you know what they say…" Jonathan said with a slight chuckle. "The enemy of my enemy is my fuck buddy…" he winked.

Maybe it was just the alcohol in her system, but Dinah couldn't help but laugh at his words.


	30. Chapter 30

Gus looked over at Harley as they arrived at the farmhouse. "Are you sure that you're ok, babe?" He asked. "I know how close you two were…"

"Yes, Gus…" Harley said. "I'm fine…"

"I know… But…" Gus hesitated a moment. "Are you sure that you can handle this?"

"I'm a cop, Gus." Harley said. "It's my job…"

"You don't… Have to do this, you know…" Gus said.

"I said that I'm fine!" Harley snapped, before pulling the door open.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, here we are…" Jonathan said, walking out of the airport. "New home, sweet home…"

Dinah looked around for a cab. "I'm starving…" she said.

"They served food on the airplane…" Jonathan said with a laugh.

"And you expected me to eat that crap?" Dinah said. "Let's stop and get a meal before we go to the hotel…"

"Nah…" Jonathan said. "Let's at least drop all of this stuff off first…"

"You're right… We can't be carrying all of this stuff around…" Dinah said. "Maybe we should just order room service…" she added, raising an eyebrow.

"And just stay in, huh?" Jonathan said with a smirk. "I think that I like the sound of that…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mmm hmm…" George mumbled into the phone. "Are you sure? No… No… No, I have to question somebody… I'll send one of the agents… Mmm hmm… No… Shouldn't take too long… Uh huh… What? What else? Seriously? Oh my God. No. It's fine. All right. They should be there soon. Uh huh. Ok. Bye…" He hung up the phone and walked back over to everyone else. "O'Neill, can I talk to you over here for a second?" He asked.

"What is it?" Jeffrey asked.

"Over here…" George said, moving further away from the crowd.

"What?" Jeffrey said, following him.

"They got a hit…" George said. "A man matching the description of Jonathan Randall was spotted at the Springfield airport shortly after the time that you said the bomb went off…"

"Did you send somebody there?" Jeffrey asked.

"Not yet…" George said.

"Well, why the hell not?" Jeffrey asked.

"O'Neill…" George said. "There's more…"

"What?" Jeffrey said. "What is it?"

"He wasn't alone…" George said. "He was traveling with a woman who matched the description of Dinah Marler… The witness described them as close… Acting like… Lovers..."

"Well, well, well… What a tangled web we weave…" Jeffrey muttered under his breath, looking away as everything started to make more sense to him. "I'm sure that she spun the history to put the blame onto Cassie instead of Edmund…" he said, his eyes locked onto the AD's once more.

"That very well may be…" George said. "That very well may be, but…"

"This is a joint investigation, remember…" Frank interrupted, moving towards them. "What are you two hiding over here?"

"Nothing…" George said. "We got a hit on the APB; the suspect was spotted at the airport… I'm sending O'Neill over there now…"

"Aitoro…" Frank said, moving half-way back towards Gus. "I want you to go with him…"

Gus looked over at Harley. She seemed fine for now, but he knew that there were deeper emotions, just brewing underneath her tough exterior. He was so worried about her, and he wasn't sure that he should leave.

Harley noticed his gaze lingering over her. "I will be fine, Gus…" she said. "Please… We just… We need to catch whoever did this…"

"Are you sure?" Gus asked.

"Gus, go…" Harley said.

Frank pulled Gus aside. "You know that I will be looking out for her…" he said.

Gus nodded slightly before moving back over to Harley and kissing her softly on the cheek.

"O'Neill…" George said. "Get going…"

Jeffrey's gaze was stuck on Sandy. He had that look on his face again. Like he was trying to disconnect from everything. And it made Jeffrey worry. Made him hesitant to leave.

"O'Neill…" George said. "He will be fine…"

"You don't know that…" Jeffrey said.

"If we catch whoever did this…" George said. "He will be fine…"

Jeffrey nodded slightly. "Just… Go easy on him, all right…" he said. "Don't push him too hard…"

"I am going to push him as hard as I need to to get the relevant information…" George said. "Now go…"

Jeffrey sighed. "Could you just…"

"Go, O'Neill…" George said firmly. "Just go…"

Jeffrey sighed again, his gaze lingering over Sandy for another moment before he moved towards the door. "Come on Aitoro…" he said, the emotion now completely gone from his voice. "Let's get outta here…"


	31. Chapter 31

"You said that Jeffrey said that Reva was here when he arrived?" Harley asked.

"Yes…" Frank said.

"Well, where is she now?" Harley asked.

"I don't know…" Frank said. "Jeffrey just said that Sandy said that they got into an argument and she ran off sobbing…"

"And none of you thought to look for her?" Harley asked, her tone suddenly laced with anger.

"Well, we were trying to figure out how the hell to go about this investigation…" Frank answered frustratedly.

Harley shook her head with an angry sigh.

"Don't you shake your head at me, sis…" Frank snapped. "Reva is grieving, ok? She wanted to be alone, so I am letting her be alone as long as I possibly can… And if you are here as her friend, or as Cassie's best friend, and not as a cop…"

"Damn it, Frank!" Harley yelled. "Don't you lecture me on my abilities as a police officer! You think that I can't do my job and still give a damn at the same time? You tell me, Frank, what is so damn terrible about having somebody here who actually cares?"

"Because you care too much…" Frank said. "And that, in any investigation, can be a very dangerous thing… Or didn't you learn that when Gus was trying to defend you?"

"You know what, Frank! That has nothing to do with this, OK?" Harley snapped. "So why don't you just shut up about it already!" She turned her back to him and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Frank snapped.

"I am going to find Reva…" Harley snapped, turning back around to face him. "And I am going to question her! Not you, not this Berkley guy from the FBI, me! Someone who actually cares is going to question her because that is what she needs right now, Frank, somebody who actually cares!"

Frank sighed angrily. "Look, sis, I know that we have our main suspect in this Jonathan Randall, but… If it turns out it wasn't him, then we need to make room for the possibility…"

"No, Frank! No!" Harley snapped, her eyes steeled into a glare. "Don't you even say it!"

"Sis, she was the only one here when Jeffrey arrived… I mean… You heard exactly how the bodies were found… She had every motive…"

"I am not going to stand here and listen to this, Frank!" Harley yelled. "So you just take care of the CSI team when they get here and let me do this!"

Frank sighed angrily as he watched his sister storm off.

Harley made sure that she was out of Frank's sight before the tears started to fall. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, composing herself very quickly, knowing that she needed to focus on the investigation. She walked through the house, slowly pushing open the doors as she passed them. And then she heard the faint sound of sobbing. She moved closer to the room that it seemed to be coming from and pushed the door open to see Reva sitting there, alone, on the floor, in the corner of the room. "Reva…" she said softly.

Reva looked up at her. Her face was streaked with tears and her body was shaking.

"Reva…" Harley said, moving closer to her. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Reva turned away from her continuing to cry. "No…" she said. "I'm not ok… And I will never be ok again…"

Harley wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close into a comforting embrace. "Were you… Here when it happened?" she asked.

"Cassie…" Reva said, her body still shaking with sobs. "She called me… She… She called and… She… She said that she needed me over here… And… I came here and… It was just… Quiet… So… So quiet… I went up to her room, and…" She shook even more as she continued to speak. "I found her there… Dead… Naked underneath my husband… And… It just hurt… It just… It hurt so much and I… I just… I just passed out I think… I just… I just couldn't look at them like that…"

"It's ok…" Harley whispered softly. "Was there anyone else here when you got here?"

"No…" Reva said, sniffling as she attempted to wipe her tears away, though more only continued to fall. "There was no one else here it was just so quiet…"

"How long were you passed out?" Harley asked.

"Until…" Reva said. "Until Sandy got here… He had these marks on his neck… He… He said that my son did this… He said… He said that he isn't my son and that my real son did this…" she started to shake again as she continued to cry. "He's a liar though. It's not true! It can't be true! My son… No! No! My son, he wouldn't… He couldn't… It… It can't be… He wouldn't do this!"

"I promise you…" Harley said. "We're going to find whoever did do this…"

"He wouldn't do this!" Reva said.

Harley sighed softly. She wasn't even going to try arguing logic with her right now. Wasn't going to point out the fact that her son was someone she didn't even know. "I think… I think that you should go to the hospital… You know… Just… Just to get checked out…" Harley said. "I… I can go with you if you want…"

"The hospital can't fix what's wrong with me…" Reva said. "My husband is dead! My sister is dead! How is a doctor going to fix that, huh? You tell me Harley!"

"I don't… I don't know…" Harley said, and by now she was again fighting to hold back the tears herself. "But I still think that you should go…"

Reva pulled away from Harley's embrace. "I just want to die!" She said.

"No…" Harley said. "No, Reva, that's not going to fix anything!"

"Just… Please… Leave me alone…" Reva said. "Just let me cry here in my sister's house… With all of my memories of her…"

"Reva, you can't stay here much longer…" Harley said. "It is well past time to close off the crime scene so the CSI team can come in… And, you know, maybe… Maybe this place… With… With all of your memories isn't really the best place to be right now, you know?"

"And where am I supposed to go?" Reva cried. "Home? To the house that I shared with my husband? My husband who was cheating on me with my own sister? My husband who was murdered in cold blood? My husband who I loved more than anything else in this world? Who I still love so much… I love them both so much, Harley… I could've forgiven it… I could've… I could've, really… I just want them back… Both of them… I need them… I need them both so much, Harley… I need them in my life… What am I going to do? How am I supposed to tell Marah and Shayne? How? How am I supposed to do that? Their father is dead! I can't… I can't take this…"

"Reva, please…" Harley said, her eyes again wet with the trace beginnings of tears. "Just… Come to the hospital with me, please… Maybe… Maybe after you get checked out we can just… Talk some more… Maybe… Maybe you know more than you think you do… Maybe… Maybe you can help us catch whoever did this…"

"I told you what I know!" Reva cried.

"I know… I know…" Harley said. "But we have to go over everything… I mean… Just to make sure, Reva… You know that I'm not just here as a cop… You're my friend… And your sister was my best friend… And… I need to know who did this… I just… I need to be sure… I… I need to find them and make sure that they get what they deserve…"

Reva wiped her tears again, trying to calm herself somewhat. "Oh… OK…" she said hesitantly, looking back at Harley.

Harley got up off of the ground. "Come on…" she said softly. "It's… It's going to be ok…"


	32. Chapter 32

George watched Harley board the ambulance with Reva and waited until it was completely out of sight to approach Frank. "Cooper…" he said, watching as Frank spun around to face him.

"Yes…" Frank replied.

George's gaze traveled from Frank, to Sandy, then back to Frank again. "I need to question him…" he said, his gaze again leaving Frank to lock onto the door. "I take it that you can handle the CSI team when they get here…" he said, his gaze on Frank once more.

"Of course…" Frank said with a knowing nod. "I will take care of it…"

"Thank you…" George said before pulling away from Frank and approaching Sandy. "Sandy…" he called out, receiving no response. "Sandy…" he said again, his voice louder and more demanding.

Sandy didn't even flinch, his body completely still, his gaze far off into the distance.

George moved closer to Sandy, firmly planting his hand on Sandy's shoulder. "SANDY!" He barked, shaking him slightly.

Sandy pulled away from the AD's touch. He turned to face him, though, for the moment, he seemed to be looking through him more than at him.

"Come on…" George said, firmly. "I need to question you…" His face was etched with worry, as he wasn't sure that this was going to be of any help. He knew Sandy well enough to know that he was not going to incriminate himself in anything unless he was pushed.

Sandy didn't move from the spot that he was standing in. He remained completely still, save for his gaze which finally connected with the older man's.

"Sandy…" George said again, putting a firm grip on his wrist. "Come with me…"

Sandy followed slowly as George led him to the room where the bodies still were.

A look of panic flashed through Sandy's eyes. "Aren't we… Aren't we going to the police station?" He asked, swallowing nervously.

"No…" George said. "We're not. We're doing this right here…"

Sandy looked at him like he was crazy. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Get in the room, Sandy…" George growled. He knew that this went against procedure. He knew that it was extreme. He knew that Jeffrey was never going to forgive him for this, but desperate times… He knew that if Sandy had any defenses that his information wouldn't be of any use to the investigation.

Sandy hesitated, his body shaking slightly as he looked through the crack of the door. "You can't… You can't make me go back in there…" he said, looking up at the AD.

George pushed Sandy roughly through the door, shutting it behind him. "Like I said, Sandy…" he growled. "We're doing this in here…"

Tears came to Sandy's eyes as his gaze lingered on the corpses.

"The faster we get this done…" George said. "The faster that you can get outta here…"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sandy asked, turning his gaze back to George.

"Just start at the top…" George said. "Why did you lie to Jeffrey about Jonathan Randall being dead?"

"I didn't lie!" Sandy growled. "I saw him fall!"

"Ok…" the AD said. "Then why did you lie to Jeffrey about Jonathan Randall being alive?"

"I didn't!" Sandy said. "I saw him last night! I did!"

"But you saw him die!" George said. "You said that you saw him die!"

"I did!" Sandy said. "I did! He must've survived that fall somehow… I… I don't know how, but he must've because I saw him… He tried to kill me! He left these marks on my neck!"

"And why should I believe a word that you say?"

"Come on, George… You know me…"

"Yes, I do…" George said. "I know you and I know your proclivities…"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Sandy snapped.

"It means that any logical person would conclude that Jeffrey O'Neill, or maybe some anonymous trick, left those marks on your neck… Not Jonathan Randall back from the dead!"

"I SAW HIM!" Sandy yelled.

"And you were drunk, were you not?" George yelled. "And you were high, were you not?"

"I still know what I saw!" Sandy yelled.

"Why would he do this?" George asked. "Why would he shoot Cassie Winslow and Joshua Lewis? Why wouldn't he have waited until Edmund was home and killed him?"

"I don't know!" Sandy yelled.

"Then how do you know that he did this?"

"He said that he had a plan!" Sandy yelled. "When he was strangling me, he said that he had a perfect plan, but that he just couldn't wait that long! He said that I was getting too close to Reva!"

"Then why didn't he target Reva?"

"I don't know!"

"Tell me, Sandy, why?"

"Maybe he thought that she would suffer more this way! He's sick… He's… He's fucking insane… He… He would think that way…"

"If he is so fucking insane, then why did you waste two years of your life with him? Or were you lying about that, too?"

"He saved my life!" Sandy yelled. "And I loved him! I loved him! I did!"

"Even though he was fucking insane?"

"I didn't have anybody else!"

"Maybe you're the one who's fucking insane…"

"Maybe…" Sandy said. "But I still know what I saw!"

"Maybe you're trying to pin this all on a dead guy so that you can get yourself off…"

Sandy's eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to protest, but found himself unable to form the words at the moment.

"Maybe Cassie and Joshua found out your dirty little secret…" George growled, his frigid glare stuck on Sandy's red, teary eyes. "Joshua never did like you much, did he? Maybe one of them found out and the other was just collateral damage... Maybe you knew that Reva would cut you out of her life the second that she found out the truth and so you decided to hurt her…"

"I LOVE REVA!" Sandy yelled, tears streaming down his face, his body shaking again.

"You're good with computers, right?" George said. "Previous arrests for hacking? Maybe you used a computer program to simulate Cassie's voice… Right… And if you spent two years of your life… Day in and day out with this psycho… Who you insist knows how to make bombs… Well, maybe you picked up a few tricks yourself, huh? Still angry at Jeffrey for breaking your heart all those years ago… You figured… Hey, why the hell not? Right… But the pure stroke of genius was planting the bomb at your own house to give yourself an alibi, see, that right there… That one I would've never thought of myself…"

"STOP IT!" Sandy cried. "I didn't do anything! I didn't do any of it! He tried to kill me! He tried to kill me and I passed out, but… But I can still remember the words that he was saying even when I was unconscious… And then… I woke up and Jeffrey was there… We went back to his car… And we… We…"

"He fucked you, didn't he?"

"YES!"

"With his hands around your neck?"

"YES!" Sandy cried. "But the marks were already there! Ask Jeffrey, you trust him, don't you? He saw them! The marks were already there! It was Jonathan! It was Jonathan! This whole damn thing, it was Jonathan!"

"Well…" George said, ignoring Sandy's words. "No plan is perfect, right…" he added, shrugging his shoulders mockingly. "I mean, what happened, Sandy? You chickened out at the last second? Decided that you didn't really want Jeffrey dead after all… Or was it just because he was there when you woke up? Any prick in a storm, right Sandy? Or were you just too fucking drunk to resist him? I mean… I know how you get when you're drunk, Sandy… I remember that one time… When we were just starting out with the investigation… You and Jeffrey weren't really together yet… Do you remember what you said to me? Right before I turned you down? I'll bet that you don't hear that one very often… You certainly didn't seem used to hearing no…"

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" Sandy yelled, completely frustrated. "JONATHAN DID IT! I AM TELLING YOU THAT JONATHAN DID IT!"

"You are telling me, but you are not proving it to me!" George snapped. "I need some proof, Sandy! I need some fucking proof! You can't even give me a viable motive, can you? Why would Jonathan plant a bomb at Jeffrey's house?"

"I don't know!"

"He has no motive, does he?"

"Maybe he was jealous! He was always so possessive! Maybe he was jealous!"

"Jealous of what? Are you and Jeffrey back together? I thought that he didn't fuck you until after Jonathan was already long gone!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHY HE PLANTED IT!" Sandy screamed. "Please, George, I don't know!"

George moved behind Sandy again. He grabbed his arm roughly, shoving him against the bed on which the corpses still lied. Sandy tried to pull away from him, but George pushed his body against him, his grip still tight on his arm as he held him there. "Jeffrey said that you were talking to them earlier…" he said, his voice low. "Apologizing to them…"

Sandy shook as the tears began to stream down his face in full force.

"Why were you apologizing if you didn't do anything wrong?" George yelled. "You tell me, Sandy! You tell me why!"

"I did do something wrong!" Sandy cried. "I did… I did do something wrong by lying, but… I… I didn't hurt them, George… Please… I… I swear… Please, George… Please…"

George sighed frustratedly as he let Sandy go, watching as he pulled away from the bed quickly.

Sandy turned away from him, his body still shaking slightly as he tried his best to wipe the tears from his face.

George kept his gaze on Sandy, his next strategy quickly forming in his mind. "And if I said that I believed you that he was alive…" he said softly.

Sandy turned to face him again. "You… Have proof… Don't you?" He asked, his voice gone completely soft at the realization.

"Proof that he is alive isn't proof that he did anything, now is it?" George asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sandy looked at him incredulously. "You…" he started, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm surprised that Jeffrey didn't tell you before he left…" George said. "Of course… He was probably just trying to protect your ego… I mean to think that your first love would end up with the woman who the last guy you were with left you for… I mean, that's gotta hurt…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sandy snapped, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Well, apparently Ms. Marler was spotted at the airport with your ex…" George said, watching closely for the exact moment at which Sandy would snap. "And acting all touchy-feely…" He watched as Sandy's eyes narrowed in response. "I guess there is just something about that woman that is so irresistible…" George continued, licking his lips for particular emphasis. "I mean… She is just… God damn… She is just dripping with sex appeal…"

Sandy clenched his fists without even realizing it. He glared at the AD, still saying nothing.

"Can't really blame him for gettin' some of that, you know?" George said, his eyes locked onto Sandy's. "I mean, God knows I would've if she would've offered… And Jeffrey… Well… He certainly couldn't resist… But, then again, it's not like he was ever in love with you to begin with, I mean, come on…" He laughed, looking Sandy over. "YOU?"

Sandy glared at him more intently, half ready to knock George's lights out, but still managing to retain his self-control, if only by reminding himself that George was quite adept at mind games.

"He was just fixing you… He's like that you know… I mean why else would somebody need to be an FBI agent and a District Attorney at the same time? It's just to feed his hero complex… That's the only reason he even looked at you twice… Because you were so fucked up and broken… That's what you were to him… A project… To fix… Problem is… He just fixed you up too damned fast… And suddenly you weren't so weak any more… You were strong, because the illusion that you called his love had built you up… But there she was… Still so terribly fucked up… Still weak… Like a delicate little flower… Just waiting to be plucked…"

"JUST SHUT UP! YOU SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" Sandy screamed, unable to hold in his anger any longer. He swung at George, trying to punch him in the face, though George was much too quick to let that happen. He grabbed Sandy's arm, turning him around and twisting it painfully behind him.

"Sandy Foster…" George said, pulling out his handcuffs with his other hand and quickly snapping them onto Sandy's wrists. "You are under arrest for assaulting a Federal Officer…"

"George, stop it… You don't have to do this… Please…" Sandy begged, trying to pull away from him, his voice now more desperate than angry.

"You have the right to remain silent…" George said, completely ignoring his pleas. "Anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"


	33. Chapter 33

Edmund sat, watching Tammy asleep next to him. She was so beautiful that it almost took his breath away. Even when she was sleeping. Especially when she was sleeping. Her face had this serene expression of calm, a stark contrast to what she had been in his arms less than an hour ago. His mind raced with worry. Though he tried to silence his thoughts. He stroked her hair softly as he sighed to himself. He hadn't heard the other end of the conversation. Hadn't heard Sandy's voice. Hadn't heard the exact words that he'd used. He hoped that Tammy had just overreacted. No. He knew that she had. As much as he loved her, she did have a tendency to do that at times. Everything would be fine. Perfectly fine. Cassie would be fine. She had to be. He couldn't lose her. He loved her too much. Sure, it wasn't the same kind of love that he had for Tammy, but it was still love. It wasn't what it used to be. It wasn't passionate. But still, it was deep. He needed her too much to lose her, and his heart ached at the thought. He sighed to himself again before he moved his gaze from Tammy's face to her chest, watching the rise and fall that it took with her every breath, the sight so peacefully hypnotic that he could slowly feel his eyes starting to close, his thoughts of worry finally slipping away as he began to drift off, though it wasn't very long before he was awoken by the rumble of the jet landing. He stroked the side of Tammy's face softly before kissing her cheek. He moved his hand to her shoulder and shook her lightly.

Tammy's eyes slowly fluttered open as she awoke.

"We've landed…" Edmund said softly, his hand on her face again.

Within a few minutes, Tammy was fully awake. "Come on, Edmund…" she said, pulling away from him. "Hurry up…"

"Just… Let me get our stuff, ok?" Edmund said.

Tammy sighed as she stepped off of the plane. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sandy's number.

"Hello…" the voice on the other line answered, completely foreign to her.

"I'm sorry…" Tammy said. "I think that I have the wrong number."

"You were trying to call Sandy Foster, right?" George said. "Are you Tammy?"

"Yes…" Tammy said. "Why? What is going on? Why do you have Sandy's cell phone?"

"I'm an FBI Agent…" George said. "Sandy Foster has been arrested…"

Tammy breathed a huge sigh of relief without even realizing it, pausing for a few moments before finally asking the question. "Arrested for what?"

"If you really want an answer to that…" George said. "I suggest that you get down to the police station as soon as possible…"

"What do you…" Tammy sighed frustratedly as she heard the line go dead before she could finish her sentence. She stuck her phone back into her pocket and turned to Edmund.

Edmund put the last of their bags into the car before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. "What is it?" he asked. "I couldn't tell if that was a sigh of frustration or one of relief…"

"It's both, I guess…" Tammy said.

"What do you mean?" Edmund asked, looking into her eyes.

"Well, Sandy's been arrested…" Tammy said.

"That's it?" Edmund asked, a grin crossing his face. "That was the big commotion? That was the thing that he couldn't tell you over the phone?"

"Yes…" Tammy said, the word almost coming out as a sigh. "And as much as I'm worried about him, I'm also relieved… Because I really thought that it was going to be something a lot worse."

Edmund chuckled slightly. He pulled Tammy closer and kissed her on the head. "I'm sure he'll be out by the end of the day…" he said, pulling back to look into her eyes again. "Just like last time…"

Tammy sighed again before shaking her head. "I think that it's more serious this time…" she said. "Some guy from the FBI picked up the phone and told me to get down to the police station… He wouldn't even tell me what he was arrested for..."

"I wonder why he didn't just call Reva…" Edmund said.

Tammy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know…" she said. "But I really need to get down there soon…"

Edmund gripped her hand. "I told you that your mother was fine…" he said, smiling. "See, you were all worried, and it turns out that it's not even about her…"

Tammy nodded. "I know…" she said, flashing him a bright smile of her own. "I just worry too much, I guess…"

Edmund kissed the back of her hand before loosing it from his grip. "Well…" he said. "Let's go see what mess your cousin's gotten himself into this time…"


	34. Chapter 34

Jeffrey pulled his badge out, flashing it to the airport security guard. "I'm with the FBI…" he said. "I need to speak to the eyewitness who spotted this man, here…" he pulled out the photo of Jonathan and Sandy, pointing to Jonathan.

The security guard looked over at the man asleep on the chairs. "He's right over there…" he said, pointing to him.

Jeffrey looked at the security guard skeptically as Gus moved over to the eyewitness. He cleared his throat loudly, but the man didn't budge. "Excuse me, sir…" he said, pulling out his badge. "I'm with the police… I need to talk to you…"

Jeffrey rolled his eyes at Gus and pushed his way past him. He put his hand on the man's arm, shaking him.

"Ima wake…. Ima… Wake…" the man mumbled sleepily as his eyes opened and he moved to sit up in the chair. He pulled the dirty, brown, blanket back over himself as he looked up at Jeffrey. "What do you want?" he muttered.

"I'm with the FBI…" Jeffrey said, showing him his badge. "I need to talk to you about what you saw earlier…"

The man raised an eyebrow as he stared up at Jeffrey. "I ain't seen nothin'…" he said.

Jeffrey pulled out the picture of Sandy and Jonathan and pointed to Jonathan. "Are you telling me that you didn't see this man here, earlier?" he asked.

"I told you…" the man said. "I ain't seen nothin'…"

"Oh, really?" Jeffrey said. "Because the security guard over there said that you told him otherwise…"

"Well, he's telled ya wrong…" the man said. "Now leaves me be…"

"Maybe a trip down to the police station will refresh your memory…" Gus said.

The man turned his gaze from Jeffrey to Gus, a crooked, half-toothless smile crossing his face. "You's threatened me with three squares and a roof over my head…" he asked with a laugh. "Well… All right… That don't sound so bad then… Maybe I's just stay quiet forevah…"

Jeffrey sighed and pulled out his wallet. "Some incentive to refresh your memory…" he said, throwing a fifty dollar bill onto the man's lap.

The man's gaze turned back to Jeffrey as his smile grew even wider. "Yeah, I's seem 'im…" he said. "He'ssa tried ta burn down the lavatree…"

Jeffery raised an eyebrow. "The what?" he asked.

"La… Va… Tree…" the man enunciated.

"The lavatory?" Gus asked. "You mean the lavatory?"

"Yessa… I mean'ses that… The lavatree…" the man said. "Hessa tried ta burn down the men'ses lavatree…"

"Is that all that you saw?" Jeffrey asked.

"I sees him meets and kisses a beautiful woman…" the man said. "I sees her meet hims when hessa leaves the lavatree… He'ssa gone kissed her anda grabbed her hiney… And I see's them walka thataways…" the man added, pointing.

"Was this the woman?" Jeffrey asked, pulling out a picture of Dinah.

"Yessa… that's her…" the man said. "And if yousa likeses them pretty pictures so much, maybe yousa go check out the lavetree…"

"Did he leave something in there?" Jeffery asked.

The man smiled again. "Yessa… Hessa leaved a picture like that first one you's showed me… And hessa leaved a picture of you…"

"Me?" Jeffrey asked confused.

"Yessa, you…" the man replied. "You's is da man from da picture…" He smiled even more brightly as he stood up and touched Jeffrey's beard. "But you'sa face was clean…" he said.

Jeffrey pulled away from the man, looking at him awkwardly for a second before turning to look at Gus. But Gus was already gone. "Thank you for your time…" he said, turning back to the man for a moment.

"No Sir…" the man said, still grinning from ear to ear. "Thanksa you…"


	35. Chapter 35

George looked up at the clock again as he waited. His glance turned back to the phone, and then the clock, and then the phone. He was desperate to hear some news. He was desperate to hear from anyone. Edmund, Tammy, Jeffrey, Gus, Harley, Frank… Anyone. He knew that Sandy was holding something back, but he didn't know what it was. He'd thought that he'd pushed all of his buttons to get him to confess, but now he just wasn't sure. The kid was just so hard to read sometimes. Even when he was sobbing or swinging a punch at him. His emotions were always over the top and yet contained in the same instant. He hadn't changed a bit since he'd left the investigation. Not one little bit. George shook his head at his thoughts with a sigh. His gaze lingered on the clock for a few more seconds before he heard the door finally push open. He looked up to see a young woman running towards him, the look on her face an awkward mix of relief and panic. "Tammy?" he asked, his eyes moving up to meet her gaze.

"Yes." Tammy answered, her eyes almost pleading as she ran up to the desk. "Where is Sandy? Is he ok? Can I see him?"

George stepped out from behind the desk, his gaze moving momentarily to Edmund who had just walked through the door. "Sandy is in a holding cell." he said, pointing as his gaze shifted once more. "You can go see him if you like."

Tammy gave him a quick nod. "Thank you." She said softly, before heading immediately for Sandy's cell.

Edmund moved to follow her when he felt George's fingers curl around his wrist.

"Hold up…" George said.

"What?" Edmund snapped, pulling away from George's grip as he turned to face him, obviously annoyed.

George's eyes moved to meet Edmund's, his voice wavering for a second.

"What?" Edmund snapped again.

George's voice went soft when he could finally speak. "There's… There's something that I need to tell you…"

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"Pretty pictures in the lavatree…" Gus said, mocking the man's accent as he pushed the door open. His eyes immediately moved to the pictures in the sink. Snapping on a pair of gloves, he picked one up, his eyes on the writing scribbled so sloppily on the back. "Pictures fade, memories stay vivid." He mumbled to himself, noticing the charring at one of the corners. He flipped the picture over, instantly recognizing it as the same one that Sandy gave Jeffrey. He bagged the picture and stuck it into his pocket, his eyes moving to the second picture. The charring on this one was worse. The writing, obviously from a different person. "I think we could be great together. Really, really great together. Call me." He tried to read the phone number, but the last few digits were burnt off. He sighed resignedly before finally turning the picture around, his mouth falling open at the sight in front of him as his eyes widened in shock.

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"Sandy!" Tammy called out as she approached his cell. "Sandy, what happened?"

Sandy turned around to face her, his eyes finally dried of tears, but still completely red.

Tammy's eyes widened as she surveyed the marks on Sandy's neck. "Oh my God, Sandy…" she said, her eyes moving up as she tried to meet his gaze. "What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry Tammy…" he answered, his voice soft. His eyes finally connected with hers as he moved closer to the bars. "I never meant for this to get so out of hand…"

Tammy looked at him, her eyes even wider now in confusion. "Sandy, what… What do you… Mean by that?" she asked hesitantly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

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Jeffrey pushed the bathroom door open, completely taken aback by the look on Gus's face. "Aitoro?" he asked, his voice questioning. "What the hell did you find in here?"

Gus's eyes lingered over the picture as he offered Jeffrey no response.

"Aitoro!" Jeffrey snapped demandingly.

"I umm… I…" Gus mumbled, his gaze finally moving from the picture to meet Jeffrey's own. "It's nothing… Nothing, really…" He added, bagging the picture quickly. "It's just… Well… It's the same picture that Sandy gave you earlier… Except that… It's burnt at the corner…" He turned away from Jeffrey, quickly shoving the picture into his pocket and pulling out the other one.

"Damn it, Aitoro!" Jeffrey snapped, grabbing Gus by the arm and turning him around to face him. "What are you hiding from me?"

"It's nothing." Gus growled, pulling his arm away from Jeffrey's grasp. "I said that it's nothing."

"When I came in here…" Jeffrey posited. "You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

"Yeah." Gus said. "Well, maybe I'd seen worse."

"And just… What is that supposed to mean?" Jeffrey asked, questioningly.

"I found evidence that contradicts Sandy's story… I found a picture of somebody else… Not Jonathan Randall… With his hands around Sandy's neck… And the picture is dated from last week…"

"Well… Who is this guy?" Jeffrey asked hesitantly, remembering the witness's words and half-dreading the answer.

Gus sighed as he finally pulled the picture out of his pocket and held it out to Jeffrey. "It's you…"

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Jonathan grinned as he pushed the door open. "I think that I am going to like it here." he said, dropping what little he had bothered to pack onto the floor as his eyes surveyed the hotel room.

"Yeah, me too." Dinah smiled, following him inside. "I think that I could really get used to this place."

Jonathan moved over to the bed, kicking off his shoes and laying back, his grin growing even wider as he rested his head against the pillows. "So, how is it that you can afford a place like this when you don't even have a job?" he asked.

Dinah sighed and sat down on the bed next to him. "Well…" she said, kicking off her shoes as well. "A girl does get to keep some secrets, doesn't she?"

Jonathan chuckled. "Ah, well... That depends." He said.

Dinah raised an eyebrow. "On what?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"On how hard she'll work to dodge the question." Jonathan laughed.

"Ooh, well… In that case…" A sexy smirk crossed Dinah's face as she moved on top of Jonathan and brought her lips to meet his, kissing him hungrily as her fingers tangled into his long, dark hair.

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Jeffrey tried to keep a stoic expression as he surveyed the photo. "This picture is doctored." He finally said flatly.

"I don't think so, O'Neill." Gus barked. "And if you make us go through the trouble of having a lab analyze it when you damn well know that it's real, all you are going to do is waste the department and the bureau's time…"

Jeffrey turned away from Gus, his thumb lightly running over the plastic that shielded the photograph from his touch. He stayed completely silent for several minutes as he could feel Gus's eyes burning into him. A resigned sigh left his lips as he finally turned back around to face him. "All right…" he said softly. "The picture… This picture… It's real, ok?"

Gus sighed angrily. "God damnit, O'Neill!" he growled. "You knew damn well that Jonathan Randall didn't strangle Sandy Foster!"

"No!" Jeffrey growled.

"Sandy Foster has been lying this whole time and you damn well knew it!" Gus cut in, keeping Jeffrey from getting out anymore than a word.

"No!" Jeffrey growled again, trying to explain.

"Sandy found out that Jonathan was alive and decided to make him look bad in Reva's eyes so that she would be left to keep loving him by default. He's not just a liar, but a murderer as well. Sandy's the one that we should be…"

"NO!" Jeffrey growled even louder, his eyes half-burning with anger and half-pleading with Gus to let him get a word in as he shoved him roughly against the sink. "The picture is real, but the date is doctored!" he barked. "That picture is over two years old, and that is the truth! Sandy didn't kill anyone!"

Gus looked up at Jeffrey angrily, but made no move to pull away from him. "I don't believe you!" He growled. "God damnit, O'Neill, why are you lying for this kid? Does he really mean that much to you? That you would be willing to lose your careers and hinder this investigation? That you would allow him to get away with killing one of the few people in this town who actually gave a damn about you?"

"God damnit, Aitoro!" Jeffrey yelled, pushing the picture into Gus's hand. "Look at the date on the picture! Look at the fucking date on this photograph! You saw me the next day! You testified in the Thompson trial! I wasn't clean shaven like I am in the picture! How the hell did I manage to grow this all back so goddamned fast? You tell me that, Aitoro! You fucking tell me!"

Gus's breath was heavy with anger as he finally pushed Jeffrey away from him. He glanced at the photograph before sticking it back into his pocket and moving his hand up to touch the side of Jeffrey's face, much less tenderly than the man who had done the same less than an hour before.

"Come on Aitoro, you know that I'm telling the truth…" Jeffrey said softly, most of the anger gone from his voice as he watched the look of realization come across Gus's face.

Gus pulled his hand from Jeffrey's cheek, his gaze on him almost questioning as they stared at each other in silence. "So…" he finally managed to ask, his own voice gone just as soft. "You and Sandy, huh?"

Jeffrey hesitated to answer, another awkward silence filling the room for several minutes. "Not anymore…" he finally answered sullenly. "And that's enough about that…" He sighed, his gaze lingering over Gus for a few more seconds before he turned and left the restroom.


	36. Chapter 36

"What did Sandy do this time?" Edmund asked, just wanting to get him out and get this over with.

"Actually, it's… It's not about him…" George answered hesitantly. "Not completely…"

"Well, what is it that's so goddamned important?"

"Are you aware of your fiancée's… Umm… Extracurricular activities?"

Edmund rolled his eyes. "Oh please, don't mince words with me."

"Are you aware that she was seeing another man?"

"We have an open relationship. Not that it's any of your business. Although if I had it my way, she would've found somebody much better than Jeffrey O'Neill."

"She told you that she's seeing Jeffrey O'Neill?"

"Not in so many words… We keep the others names out of it. But they seem to spend a lot of time together. Again, not that it's any of your business…"

"It's Joshua Lewis… The man that she's seeing… Not Jeffrey O'Neill."

A look of casual surprise came across Edmund's face. "Well, that is better, I suppose. But again, please remind me why this is any of your business. And what it has to do with my nephew being arrested."

George shook his head as he looked away from Edmund. "Well, I don't really know how to say this… I've done it a million times and still it never gets any easier…" he sighed, his gaze turning back to meet Edmund's once more. "Joshua Lewis was found dead early this morning… His body was found along with your fiancée's… Apparently… Umm… Apparently they were killed while being… Intimate…"

A volatile mixture of anger and hurt simmered within Edmund's gaze. "She's…" he muttered, unable to say anything more at the moment.

"She's gone…" George said, softly. "I'm sorry for your loss…"

Edmund felt like he was going to be sick. His stomach ached. That awful feeling of grief spreading throughout his body. Tears burned his eyes, but he forced himself to hold them back. He needed to stay somewhat coherent. He needed to know. "Who…" he asked softly, barely able to get the words out. "Who… Who… Who… Who could… Do such a thing?"

George sighed again as he kept his gaze on Edmund's. "I'm sorry Mr. Winslow…" he said. "But we don't have any definitive information at the moment."

"Oh, bullshit!" Edmund shouted, the words coming to him much easier now, in anger. "You must have a main suspect!"

"Well… Umm…" George stuttered. "The person that… That we are looking into right now is… Is… Jonathan Randall…"

"SANDY!" Edmund yelled, his face now even more contorted with rage.

"No… No… No…" George cut in. "Sandy isn't Jonathan Randall… He's… He's an imposter, and… And we are doing our best to track down the real one…"

Edmund's gaze shot straight through the other man's. "Imposter?" he asked, his voice seething with anger and confusion.

"Yes." George answered, almost hesitantly. "Sandy Foster is not your nephew."

But that didn't even begin to dilute Edmund's anger towards Sandy. His gaze on George hardened even more, something of a growl leaving his lips before he stormed off to Sandy's holding cell.

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"Come on, Sandy…" Tammy spoke softly, her hand gripping her cousin's. "I'm your cousin and your best friend… You… You can tell me anything…"

Sandy's eyes were locked onto hers. His gaze heavy with pain and regret. "But, you see, that's just it, Tammy…" he spoke, his voice gone even softer than hers. "I'm… I'm… I'm…" he swallowed nervously, not even sure that he could get the words out of his mouth. "I'm… Not your cousin…" he finally managed to whisper.

Tammy's grip went limp, her hand dropping Sandy's as her eyes widened in confusion. "Just what… What… What are you saying to me?"

Sandy swallowed nervously again, wanting so desperately to look away, though something about her gaze managed to hold him. "I… I stole his life, Tammy… I… I'm not… Jonathan Randall… I… I'm just… Sandy… Sandy… Sandy Foster…"

"You… You've been lying to me this whole time?" She asked, tears stinging her eyes as her voice went even softer. "You… You've been… Lying to my… Whole… Family…" She stepped away from the bars, her gaze leaving his completely as she stared down at the floor, searching for the right words to say next but completely unable to find them.

The place filled with an awkward silence until angry, charging footsteps could be heard approaching. And approaching fast. "What the hell were you thinking?" Edmund's voice filled with malice as he grabbed Sandy by the shirt collar and jerked him against the bars. "You stole his life? You stole his life? What the hell were you thinking?"

Sandy yelped as he could feel his head clang against the metal. His eyes went wide and pleading as he tried to fix his gaze onto Tammy's.

Tammy was livid. And still, she needed Edmund to stop. Needed to talk to Sandy. Needed to know why he would do something like this. Needed to hear all of the reasons behind his lies. "Edmund, please…" she said softly, her body almost trembling. "Please stop…"

Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Edmund only began to shake Sandy more violently. "You did this!" He screamed. "You did this! You did this! You did this!"

Tammy gripped Edmund's arm, trying desperately to pull him away from the bars. "Uncle Edmund, stop!" she yelled.

Edmund's rage was only just beginning to build. He jerked his arm roughly. Roughly enough to send Tammy stumbling onto the ground. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched him, so afraid at seeing him like this again. She sat, shaking for a few moments before she was finally able to pull herself off of the ground. She wiped her eyes; her gaze meeting with Sandy's once more before she ran out of the room.

"You stole his life!" Edmund yelled, jerking Sandy against the bars again, the clang of his head against the metal barely registering in Edmund's ears. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Sandy yelped in pain as he felt himself again jerked against the bars, he struggled against Edmund and finally managed to break free from his grip, his shirt ripping, most of it still left in tatters in Edmund's hand. "I may have stolen his life!" he panted, his eyes burning with tears of pain and anger. "But you're the one who tried to take it!"

Edmund's eyes went wide at Sandy's accusation. "Don't you put the blame for this on me…" he growled. "You're the one… You're the one who did this! You're the one that pushed him into this!"

"I may have pushed him over the edge!" Sandy huffed. "But if it wasn't for you, he wouldn't've even been on it in the first place!"

"No! No! No!" Edmund yelled, his voice even angrier now. "No! No! No! No!"

"YES!" Sandy growled, his gaze now just as hardened as Edmund's.

"Oh? Oh?" Edmund stuttered. "Oh, what the hell do you know?"

"What the hell do I know? I know… I know… I know… I know that if there were any justice in this world that we would both be dead! He would have targeted me and you! Just me and you! Cassie and Josh would still be alive! He never would've planted that bomb at Jeffrey's house!"

"Jeffrey is dead?"

"No, but he would be if he had been home! Jonathan thought that he was Richard! Richard, the father who had to abandon him because of YOU! You! You did this Edmund! You did this! You killed your fiancée! You killed Tammy's mother! You killed Cassie!"

"NO!" Edmund growled, reaching through the bars and grabbing Sandy by the arm. "You did this! You did this! You did this!" He jerked Sandy roughly against the bars over and over again, completely unable to contain his growing rage, the words leaving his mouth like a twisted mantra as he repeated them over and over again, just listening to Sandy scream and watching his desperate struggling.

George ran into the room with Tammy pulling his arm, his eyes on Sandy, a part of him wanting to let Edmund continue in hopes of getting more information out of him. But even George had his limits. "That is enough!" He finally yelled, grabbing Edmund roughly and trying to pull him off of Sandy.

"He did this!" Edmund yelled, trying to push George off of him.

"Mr. Winslow, if you don't stop this right now, then I am going to have to arrest you…" George growled.

Edmund jerked Sandy roughly against the bars one more time before finally loosing him from his grip, his breathing heavy, eyes burning with anger as he watched Sandy quickly retreating to the corner of the cell. "You are going to pay for this, Sandy." he growled. "And that is a promise." He pushed George away from him and moved towards Tammy.

Tammy looked up at him, traces of tears still visible in her eyes as she took him lightly by the arm. "Edmund, can we please… Just… Get out of here?" she asked softly.

Edmund pulled Tammy against him and kissed her softly on the head, his anger forced down into a quiet resignation. His better judgment returned, at least for the moment. "Come on…" he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as he took her hand and led her out of the police station.


End file.
